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SOCIAL PROBLEM DISCUSSION SERIES 

CHRISTIANITY AND 
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

FACTS, PRINCIPLES, PROGRAMS 

A Discussion Group Text-Book 

Prepared by 

KIRBY PAGE, Chairman F. ERNEST JOHNSON 

LESLIE BLANCHARD DAVID R. PORTER 

SHERWOOD EDDY FLORENCE SIMMS 

HARRISON S. ELLIOTT OLIVE VAN HORN 



for the Educational Committee of the Commission on 

the Church and Social Service of the Federal Council 

of the Churches of Christ in America 



ASSOCIATION PRESS 

New York: 347 Madison Avenue 
1922 






W^ 



Copyright by 
F. Ernest Johnson 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



JUN 15 1922 



Foreword 

This book, the second of the Social Problem Discussion Series, 
has a somewhat different form from the first — "What is the 
Christian View of Work and Wealth ?" It contains a running text 
instead of reference material gathered from a variety of sources. 
But it is none the less a discussion course. The outline and the 
manner of treatment have been determined by the committee and 
the same kind of discussion has gone into the preparation of the 
course that it is hoped to elicit by means of it. The text has been 
written with a view not merely to stating facts or declaring 
opinions, but to laying bare the issues and enabling the group to 
approach the problems involved in the subject matter. 

On first thought many of the questions here dealt with seem 
to be of too technical a nature for popular discussion. What is 
contemplated, however, is a moral appraisal of the situation pre- 
sented by industry in the light of our common heritage of ethical 
ideals. 

Suggestions to Leaders 

The leader will doubtless find himself serving the group best if 
he keeps as much as possible out of its way. He is really the 
chairman of a meeting. He should not attempt to "put over" any 
particular point of view, but to see to it that there is fair discus- 
sion. To this end, he probably will not wish to take part himself. 
He will have all he can do if he carries out his duties as chairman, 
stating the questions, seeing that all sides are represented in the 
discussion, and summarizing the conclusions. He may find a black- 
board of help if he is handling a large group. The chairman will 
also need to see that the necessary information for intelligent dis- 
cussion is before the meeting. 



Table of Contents 

CHAPTER PAGE 

1. A Divided World 1 

2. Poverty — Misfortune or Blessing? 7 

3. Is Poverty a Serious Problem? 17 

4. Do Great Fortunes Help or Hinder Social Progress? 29 

5. Are Luxuries Antagonistic to Public Welfare? . . 41 

6. Does Modern Industry Help or Hinder the Full De- 
velopment of Human Beings? 54 

7. Why Is There Not Enough to Go Around? ... 65 

8. How Can Industry Be Made to Produce More Goods 

and Better People? 74 

9. What Changes in Control Would Most Benefit In- 
dustry? 84 

10. What Degree of Public Control of Industry Will Best 
Promote the General Welfare? 92 

11. How Rapidly Can a Christian Economic Order Be 
Achieved? • 101 



CHAPTER 1 
A Divided World 

The revolt against the suffering and misery of the present day- 
is world-wide. A never-ending stream of protest is pouring from 
our printing presses. Many of the titles are significant : "The Sal- 
vaging of Civilization," "Social Decay and Regeneration," "Chaos 
and Order in Industry," "Principles of Social Reconstruction," 
"Proposed Roads to Freedom," "The New Social Order," "Labor 
in the Changing World," "What the Workers Want," "The Cry 
for Justice." Books which defend the present order are also 
appearing. Such titles as these are significant : "The Case for 
Capitalism," "A Defense of Wealth." 

The unrest and dissatisfaction with things-as-they-are are finding 
expression in the utterances and actions of the Churches.^ The 
Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America has adopted 
the "Social Ideals of the Churches." The National Catholic War 
Council has issued a program of "Social Reconstruction." The 
Central Conference of American Rabbis has issued a "Social 
Justice Program." Practically all the great religious bodies in 
the United States have made pronouncements dealing with the 
present social order. "The Church and Industrial Reconstruc- 
tion,"2 a notable volume published by a group of prominent church- 
men, devotes forty-six pages to a consideration of the "Unchristian 
Aspects of the Present Industrial Order." 

In every quarter the present state of affairs is being challenged. 
Especially do we find the youth of all lands giving voice to their 
dissatisfaction with the old order of things. Among old^and young 
it is being recognized increasingly that at present life is almost 
intolerable for great masses of people. Others are saying that the 
present social order is doomed. In this connection, Mr. Lloyd 
George has said : "The old world must and will come to an end. 



^ The pronouncements of the Churches are considered in some detail in 
Chapter 11 of this book. 

2 Published by Association Press, New York City. Paper covers, $1.00. 

1 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

No effort can shore it up much longer. If there be any who feel 
inclined to maintain it, let them beware lest it fall upon them and 
overwhelm them and their households in the ruins."i Mr. H. G. 
Wells has recently said : "There are some things that it is almost 
impossible to tell without seeming to scream and exaggerate, and 
yet these things may be in reality the soberest matter of fact. I 
want to say that this civilization in which we are living is tumbling 
down, and I think tumbling down very fast; that I think rapid 
enormous efforts will be needed to save it."^ 



PRESENT SITUATION CAN BE CHANGED 

Throughout the literature of protest against the misery of the 
present day runs a note' of optimism. Conditions can be changed. 
These are days of transition. If only we have the intelligence and 
the will, a new and better world may be built. 

Perhaps no writer has sounded this note of hope and triumph 
more vigorously than has Benjamin Kidd, in these words : "We 
are undoubtedly living in the West in the opening stages of a revo- 
lution the like of which has never been experienced in history. 
We are witnessing the emergence of causes and the marshalling and 
leaguing of forces utterly unknown to textbooks. They will make 

history for a thousand years to come Through all the 

stress of conflict in the West there swells the deep diapason of the. 
social passion calling for service, for subordination, for sacrifice, 

for renunciation on a scale unprecedented We are watching 

the assembling in the world of the governing forces of new eras 

of history The ascending history of the human race is 

indeed nothing else than the progressive history of the sacrifice of 
the individual eflEicient for himself to the meaning of that collective 
efficiency which is being organized in civilization gradually merging 
in the universal. The progress of humanity has, therefore, over 
and above every other feature this meaning. It is the epic of the 
vast, tragic, ennobling, immortalizing, all-conquering ethic of 
Renunciation. .... Within the life of a single generation it can 
be made to undergo changes so profound, so revolutionary, so 
permanent, that it would almost appear as if human nature itself 
had been completely altered in the interval.''^ 



1 Quoted in Philip Snowden, "Labour and the New World," p. v. 

2 "The Salvaging of Civilization," pp. 42, 43. 

3 Benjamin Kidd, "The Science of Power," pp. 3, 4, 41, 51, 112. 

2 



A DIVIDED WORLD 

Mr. H, G. Wells closed his series of articles on the Washington 
Conference with these words : "But I know that I believe so firmly 
in this great World at Peace that lies so close to our own, ready 
to come into being as our wills turn towards it, that I must needs 
go about this present world of disorder and darkness like an exile 
doing such feeble things as I can towards the world of my desire, 
now hopefully, now bitterly, as the moods may happen, until I 
die."i 

This same note of hopefulness has been expressed by Dr. John A. 
Hutton. "I sometimes think that in a great, wholesale way we are 
all of us about to make a wonderful discovery. At times it seems 
to me as though we were on the edge and moment of a world- 
shaking revolution in thought and mood. For a long time now 
we have been feeling our way in a vast, unlit corridor, contending 
with others in the dark, striking out at shapes which seem to be 
wishing to do us harm, when all the time they, like ourselves, may 
only have been out upon their business, and, like us, in the dark. 
I sometimes think that in answer to the cry of our present distress 
a light is once more about to shine, and by this light we shall see 
again an open door, and beyond the fair earth and sky."^ 

A DIVIDED WORLD 

When we begin to analyze the present situation in the effort to 
discover the chief causes of misery, we are at once impressed by 
the obvious fact that we are living in a divided world. All about 
us are vast chasms. The supreme task of this generation is to 
bridge the deep gulfs which separate group from group. Modern 
social cleavages are varied and complex. They are not easy to 
define, much less easy to surmount. 

One of the most comprehensive of these antagonisms is that 
between races. We are deeply affected by the color of a man's 
skin, the slant of his eyes, the shape of his nose, or the curl in his, 
hair. One of the most serious questions with which we in the 
United States are confronted is the so-called "Negro problem." A 
vast immigration from every corner of the globe has thrust upon 
us a complex and dangerous race problem. We hear of a "yellow 
peril" and of "the rising tide of color." We are constantly being 
warned that the next world war will be a struggle between races. 



"Washington and the Riddle of Peace," p. 312. 
"The Proposal o£ Jesus," pp. 98, 99. 

3 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Then there is the constant clash between nations. Eight years 
of war and the aftermath have made us all too familiar with the 
tragic seriousness of the struggles between nations. There is 
another major cleavage in the modern world, that between reli- 
gions. Do we not hear of "the menace of Islam"? Are we not 
told of the bitter resentment and even overt hostility with which 
Christian missionaries are greeted in various parts of the earth? 

The antagonism, however, which comes closest home to most of 
us. and which most seriously affects our daily lives, is the conflict 
between classes. Everywhere a terrific struggle is being waged 
between employers and workers. In most countries this conflict 
is growing more intense. In our own land we are becoming 
increasingly aware of it. Strikes and lockouts on a national scale 
are constantly being threatened. Not only in the basic industries, 
such as coal, steel, railways, packing houses, and building trades, 
but throughout the whole of industry the conflict is on. In- 
dustry is sharply divided into two camps, employers and workers. 
Organized business is arrayed against organized labor. 

The situation is even more complex than this. Each side in turn 
is divided into many conflicting factions. Within the ranks of the 
employers a bitter struggle is being waged. Is it not considered 
axiomatic that "competition is the life of trade" and the corner- 
stone upon which modern business rests? Does not success in 
business depend upon the degree of victory achieved in vanquishing 
one's competitors? Is not bitterness and unrestricted warfare 
inherent and inevitable in a system based upon competition? 

The ranks of labor are even more seriously divided. Competing 
employers have found it to their advantage to unite against labor 
and are usually able to present a united front against the common 
enemy. Labor, on the other hand, in spite of the plea for soli- 
darity which is often made, has not learned to act unitedly. Only 
a fraction of labor's strength is ever marshalled against the solid 
ranks of the employers. A bitter and unrelenting warfare is con- 
stantly being waged among the various factions within the labor 
movement. 

CONSEQUENCES OF DIVISION 

As a result of these manifold antagonisms, humanity is losing 
much vital blood. It is weak when it might be strong. It is poor 
when it might be rich. Sufficient strides have been made in me- 
chanical invention and the conquest of nature to make it possible 

4 



A DIVIDED WORLD 

for every person to receive an adequate supply of the material 
necessities and comforts of life. And yet, because we continue to 
attack one another, most of the human race is still in physical 
need. 

Not only in China, India, Russia, and parts of Europe and the 
Near East are large masses of the people living in destitution, 
but even in the United States, the most favored nation of the 
earth, an appalling proportion of the population is in dire physical 
need. It was more than thirty years ago that Jacob Riis wrote 
his notable volume, "How the Other Half Lives," but the situation 
among our poorer people is still tragic in the extreme. Thousands 
of families never have anough to eat. Children are deprived of 
milk and other nourishing food. The supply of clothing is alto- 
gether inadequate. Whole families are crowded together in two 
or three dingy rooms. Health is menaced and morals are en- 
dangered. Mental and spiritual growth is stunted. The miracle 
is that some families find a measure of joy in life even in the 
midst of sordidness and wretchedness. But these are exceptions. 
As a rule, the "fruits of the spirit" do not spring from such soil. 
Instead of love, joy, beauty, peace, and hope, we more often find 
bitterness, misery, squalor, dread, fear, and despair. 

One of the tragic consequences of the divided state of mankind 
is to be found in its effects upon brotherhood. It is obvious that 
the spirit of brotherhood is endangered by the great gulf which 
exists between the rich and the poor, by racial, national, and class 
struggles, and by the exploitation of the weak. The results of 
division upon brotherhood are especially visible in the Church. 
It is, of course, impossible for the Church to proclaim with 
maximum power the message of Jesus so long as its ranks are 
divided by race, nationality, and class. These divisions constitute 
an effective barrier to the progress of the Kingdom of God on 
earth and are an absolute denial of the prayer of our Lord "that 
they all may be one," 

WHAT CAN WE DO? 

No follower of Jesus can be satisfied with the present state of 
affairs. Our divisions are a source of regret and unhappiness. 
We long for a united world. What can we do to hasten its 
coming ? 

The first step is an open-minded examination of the facts in the 
case. It is absolutely essential that we know the real nature of our 

5 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

problems. Only as we know the facts can we hope to find a way 
out of our present situation. To discover all the facts with regard 
to our complex problems is difficult indeed. The difficulties are 
made all the greater because of the social cleavages which separate 
us from other groups. No single group has access to all the facts. 
Each group reaches its decisions after an examination of only a 
portion of the data. Our problem is intensified by the hostility 
which exists between different groups or at best the prejudice, 
suspicion, and fear with which various groups regard each other. 
Still another factor increases our difficulty, namely, the conscious 
or unconscious tendency to defend the status quo. The mere 
existence throughout several decades or centuries of a given 
practice or attitude is often the only defense it needs. 

Prejudice, passion, and the tendency lo defend things-as-they-are 
without examining the ethical foundations upon which they rest, 
block the way to the discovery of the truth. Those persons who 
are desirous of rendering their maximum contribution to the 
building of a better world, simply must free themselves from 
preconceived notions and enter into a sympathetic and open-minded 
examination of the facts. This is not easy to do and it requires 
constant watchfulness and effort. And yet this must be accom- 
plished by leaders in various groups if further chaos is to be 
avoided. 

It has been said that "there is no refuge but in truth." "The 
watchword of conduct that will clear up all our difficulties is the 
plain truth. Rely upon that watchword, use that key with courage 
and we can go out of the prison in which we live ; we can go right 
out of the conditions of war, shortage, angry scrambling, mutual 
thwarting, and malaise, and disease in which we live; we and our 
kind can go out into sunlight, into a sweet air of understanding, 
into confident freedom and a full creative life — forever." 

A mere knowledge of the facts will not solve our problems. 
We must have a correct scale of values by which the facts are 
to be tested. In succeeding chapters we shall attempt to discover 
the principles of Jesus that have a bearing upon the problems under 
consideration. In the light of these principles we shall examine 
specific problems and attempt to evaluate various programs of 
action which are being set forth as ways of building a better 
world. In other words, we shall endeavor to locate the sources 
of division and to discover paths to a united world through fol- 
lowing in the footsteps of Jesus. 



CHAPTER 2 
Poverty — Misfortune or Blessing? 

POVERTY AS A BLESSING 

Two conflicting views of poverty are current. According to 
one theory poverty is a blessing, while according to the other it 
is a curse. Obviously we cannot reach an intelligent decision as 
to what should be done about poverty until we decide which of 
these theories is more nearly in accordance with the actual facts. 

We are told that "of all advantages which come to any young 
man, I believe it to be demonstrably true that poverty is the 
greatest." The persons who hold this belief usually set forth 
three advantages of poverty. First, poverty is the cradle of 
character. It is contended that the poor have fewer temptations 
than the rich. Financial inability is a curb against riotous living. 
The excesses of the rich are not possible for the poor. Not only 
does poverty afford exemption from many temptations to which 
the rich are susceptible, it also makes necessary the kind of effort 
which is an aid to the building of character. The rich are not 
compelled to exert themselves, whereas the poor are kept from 
laziness by their very poverty. 

According to this view, the poor are likely to possess stronger 
characters than the rich, and so have a better chance of salvation. 
The writer of the following words is strongly of this opinion: 
"O ye children of poverty and toil, of misfortune and sorrow ! 
God is better to you than ye know. Ye see but one side of the 
veil now, and that is fretted with troubles, and dark with adversity. 
But it has another side. On that side are angel faces and the smile 
of God. Your crowns are gathering lustre. Your harps ^re 
being attuned to sweeter notes and deeper melodies of joy," This 
point of view has also been expressed in these words : "Never 
mind : if you cannot have a piano on earth, you may have a harp 
in heaven." 

A second advantage of poverty is often set forth : it provides 

7 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

the driving force for achievement. Poor boys have a better 
chance of rising to fame because of the spur of necessity. Numer- 
ous illustrations are cited of prominent citizens who were born 
poor. We are told that "poverty is the step-mother of genius." 

A third advantage of poverty, according to this view, is that 
it brings happiness. The poor are compelled to work, and work is 
a blessing. The person who works hard is not only likely to be 
in better health than the idle rich; he also has the satisfaction of 
seeing the results of his labor. Creation and achievement are 
sources of real joy. Then, too, the fact that the poor are finan- 
cially unable to indulge in the vices of the rich and consequently 
are spared the sorrows that follow dissipation, increases their 
chances of being happy. 

The advantages of poverty in this regard were described by 
the theologian Paley in these words : "Some of the necessities 
which poverty imposes are not hardships but pleasures. Frugality 
itself is a pleasure. It is an exercise of attention and contrivance, 
which, whenever it is successful, produces satisfaction. The very 
care and forecast that are necessary to keep expenses and earnings 
upon a level form, when not embarrassed by too great difficulties, 
an agreeable engagement of the thoughts. This is lost amidst 
abundance. There is no pleasure in taking out of a large un- 
measured fund." 

The theory that poverty is a blessing is reenforced by reference 
to the example and teaching of Jesus. We are reminded that Jesus 
was poor, that most of his disciples and followers were poor, and 
that many of the most devout Christians through the ages have 
been poor. Our attention is called to the teaching of Jesus. 
"Blessed are ye poor : for yours is the Kingdom of God." "But 
woe unto you that are rich !" "It is easier for a camel to go 
through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the King- 
dom of God." "And the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness 
of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, 
and it becometh unfruitful." "Go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and 
give to the poor." "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all 
covetousness : for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of 
the things which he possesseth." "Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures upon the earth." 

Our attention is also directed to the saying of St. Francis of 
Assisi : "Poverty is the way of salvation, the nurse of humility, 
and the root of perfection." 

One of the values of Christianity, so we are told by Wilber force, 

8 



POVERTY— MISFORTUNE OR BLESSING? 

is that it teaches the poor "that their more lowly path has been 
allotted to them by the hand of God ; that it is their part faithfully 
to discharge its duties and contentedly to bear its inconveniences ; 
that the present state of things is very short; that the objects 
about which worldly men conflict so eagerly are not worth the 
contest ; that the peace of mind, which religion offers indis- 
criminately to all ranks, affords more true satisfaction than all 
the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor man's reach ; 
that in this view the poor have the advantage ; that, if their 
superiors enjoy more abundant comforts, they are also exposed 
to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily 
exempted; that, 'having food and raiment, they should be there- 
with content,' since their situation jn life, with all its evils, is 
better than they have deserved at the hand of God; and finally, 
that all human distinctions will soon be done away, and the true 
followers of Christ will all, as children of the same Father, be 
alike admitted to the possession of the same heavenly inheritance. 
Such are the blessed effects of Christianity on the temporal well- 
being of political communities." 

POVERTY AS A MISFORTUNE 

After every favorable aspect has been mentioned, there is still 
much to be said about poverty. There is quite a different story 
to tell. Before we can decide whether poverty is a blessing or a 
misfortune, we must analyze its evil effects also. 

1. Sickness. In modern cities an inadequate income means an 
insufficient quantity and a poor quality of food. Undernourish- 
ment of children especially almost invariably accompanies poverty. 
Poor families as a rule do not receive proper medical care. Health 
is endangered because of neglected teeth. The volume of sickness 
is undoubtedly much greater among the poor than among other 
classes. Especially is there a higher death rate among the children 
of the poor. In this connection the Federal Commission on Indus- 
trial Relations said : "It has been proved by studies here and abroad 
that there is a direct relation between poverty and the death rate 

of babies The last of the family to go hungry are the 

children, yet statistics show that in six of our largest cities from 
twelve to twenty per cent of the children are noticeably underfed 
and ill nourished."^ 



Senate Document, No. 415, p. 23. 

9 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

2. Unwholesome Family Life. Poverty means bad housing. 
The poor Hve in unattractive houses in the most undesirable section 
of the town or city. Shanties in towns and slums in cities are 
the habitations of the poor. The degree of overcrowding which 
is common among the poor makes decency difficult or impossible. 
Discord and misery are more conspicuous in the homes of the 
poor than peace and happiness. There is little incentive to spend 
one's leisure hours in such a dreary place and consequently amuse- 
ments and recreation are sought outside. The state of the family 
treasury allows only the barest margin of expenditures for pleas- 
ure. Only the cheapest and coarsest kinds of amusement are, as 
a rule, available for the poor. Such amusements are highly com- 
mercialized and more often than otherwise are a grave menace to 
morals. This unfavorable atmosphere of the home, with commer- 
cialized amusements as the only alternative, places terrific tempta- 
tions upon children and young people. 

3. Mothers in Industry. A considerable proportion of the 
women engaged in industry are so engaged because of the inability 
of the husband or father adequately to support the family. 
Poverty drives mothers into industry. A whole train of evil 
consequences follow this step. The mother's health is threatened, 
babies are born lacking vitality, children are left at home un- 
protected and allowed to contract vicious habits, men's wages are 
lowered, and employers are encouraged to pay men less than a 
living family wage ; home life is hopelessly shattered. 

4. Child Labor. Poverty in the home is responsible for a 
considerable percentage of child labor. Dire necessity drives 
children out of school and into industry at the earliest legal age. 
Blind-alley jobs with no possible future in them are taken because 
of the need of cash. Lacking in training, such children have little 
hope of ever being able to earn more than a bare living. Child 
labor has vicious consequences for the health, mentality, and morals 
of the children so engaged. 

5. Ignorance and Low Mentality. The highest degree of 
illiteracy and the lowest degree of intelligence are found among 
the very poor. It is no adequate explanation to say that such 
people are poor because of low intelligence. Ignorance is both a 
cause and a consequence of poverty. The unwholesome environ- 
ment of the poor, the anxiety and fear of want to which they are 
subjected, the necessity of devoting one's major energies to the 

10 



POVERTY— MISFORTUNE OR BLESSING? 

struggle for existence, all tend to deaden the intellect and to stifle 
the desire for learning. 

6. Undesirable Citizenship. Poverty is an important factor 
in crime. Lack of adequate training in childhood, the unfavorable 
atmosphere of the slum, and the pressure of physical need and 
the consequent feeling of recklessness, all tend to create crimi- 
nality. Poverty is the prolific parent of crime. As Horace Greeley 
expressed it : "Morality and religion are but words to him who 
fishes in gutters for the means of sustaining life, and crouches 
behind barrels in the street for shelter from the cutting blasts of 
a winter night." Ignorance and criminal tendencies on the part 
of any considerable proportion of the population make possible 
boss rule and wholesale corruption and endanger democratic 
government. 

7. Bitterness and Hatred. To live in a slum, to feel the 
pangs of hunger, and to be unable to provide even the necessities 
of life for one's family, while only a few blocks away other men 
live in mansions and lavish all manner of luxuries upon their 
families, does not tend to produce love toward God or one's 
neighbors. This is not fertile soil for Christian virtues. Do men 
gather grapes of thorns? So long as poverty exists there can be 
no end to the class struggle. 

8. Inefficient Workers. Poverty is one of the chief brakes 
upon production. Ill health, low mentality, lack of training, 
bitterness, resentment, and a general breakdown of morale all 
work together to keep the worker from rendering efficient service. 
Inefficient workers affect the profits of the employer and the 
general prosperity of the community. If industry is to be efficient 
the present degree of poverty must be very greatly reduced. 

. 9. Misery and Despair. In these two words may be summed 
up the ultimate consequences of enforced poverty. Even a few 
months' experience with poverty creates a feeling of helplessness 
and hopelessness that is exceedingly difficult to overcome. Energies 
are consumed in the grim struggle for a bare existence. Fear of 
want is ever present. The misery of the poor has been described 
by Carlyle : "It is not because of his toils that I lament for the 

poor. We must all toil But what I do mourn over is, 

that the lamp of his soul should go out, that no ray of heavenly, 
or even earthly, knowledge should visit him; but only, in the 
haggard darkness, like two spectres. Fear and Indignation bear 

11 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

him company. Alas, while the body stands so broad and brawny, 
must the soul lie blinded, dwarfed, stupefied, almost annihilated!" 

POVERTY— MISFORTUNE OR BLESSING? 

Having examined some of the favorable and some of the 
unfavorable aspects of poverty, are we now prepared to decide 
whether it is a misfortune or a blessing? Let us tabulate the 
advantages and disadvantages. 

Advantages of Poverty Disadvantages of Poverty 

Compels work Sickness 

Incentive to achievement Unwholesome family life 

Fewer temptations Mothers and children in industry 

Develops character Ignorance and inefficiency 

Better chance of salvation Bitterness and crime 

Brings happiness Misery 

Is it possible to strike a balance between these two sides? A 
careful distinction should be made between poverty which is 
voluntarily assumed and poverty which is enforced. There is not 
the slightest doubt that there are many striking illustrations of 
sterling character, brilliant achievement, and genuine happiness in 
the midst of poverty. We are strongly convinced, however, that 
for every such case, there are hundreds of instances where modern 
enforced poverty is accompanied by ignorance, inefficiency, squalor, 
wretchedness, and despair. The evidence at this point seems to 
us to be overwhelming. There is surely something in what Henry 
Ward Beecher used to say : "Poverty is very good in poems, but 
it is very bad in the house. It is very good in maxims and sermons, 
but it is very bad in practical life." 



JESUS' TEACHING ABOUT POVERTY 

The teaching of Jesus concerning poverty can be understood only 
as we take into account His teaching concerning the value of 
human life. The very heart of the teaching of Jesus is that every 
human being is a child of God, of inestimable worth and more 
valuable than all material possessions; of limitless possibilities of 
development, even to the extent of becoming "perfect." Each 

12 



POVERTY— MISFORTUNE OR BLESSING? 

individual is entitled to the fullest opportunity for self-expression 
and self -development. The strongest words of condemnation used 
by Jesus are reserved for those who repress human development. 
"It is inevitable that hindrances should come, but woe to the men 
by whom they come, it would be well for him to have a millstone 
hung around his neck and be flung into the sea, rather than prove 
a hindrance to one of these little ones." The parable of the Good 
Shepherd leaving the ninety and nine safely in the fold and going 
in search of the one lost sheep is a picture of a compassionate, 
seeking God, grieved over the absence of even one of His chil- 
dren. It is not His will "that even the least of these shall perish." 

The dominant purpose of Jesus is revealed in these words : "I 
came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." He 
was concerned with the physical and mental needs of people, as 
well as with their spiritual life. Much of His time was spent in 
ministering to the bodily needs of people. "And He came forth, 
and saw a great multitude, and He had compassion on them, and 
healed their sick." He fed the hungry. The record gives His 
answer when His disciples wanted to send away the hungry multi- 
tude : "Give ye them to eat." 

The ultimate test of every institution and every manner of life 
is to be found in its effects upon human beings. Poverty is 
neither good nor bad in itself. It is good when human beings are 
uplifted, it is bad when they are degraded. Does Jesus commend 
or condemn poverty as a way of life? The only answer that can 
be given is that this depends upon what poverty does to human 
beings. Does modern poverty uplift or degrade those who live in 
this condition? 

The real contrast, after all, is not between poverty and great 
riches, but rather whether poverty is more favorable to human 
development than decent security in a comfortable standard of life. 
On this point there seems to be no basis for a difference in opinion. 
Security in modest comfort is the soil in which the higher values 
of life — scientific research, artistic achievement, moral righteous- 
ness, and spiritual insight — grow most readily. The really deadly 
thing about poverty is that it makes the achievement of these 
values exceedingly difficult if not impossible for most persons. 

CAUSES OF POVERTY 

Even if we do decide that, on the whole, the evil effects of 
enforced poverty vastly outweigh the good effects, the question 

13* 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

still remains as to the chief causes of poverty. There is a wide- 
spread belief that most poverty is caused by personal disqualifica- 
tions — laziness, shiftlessness, waste, lack of thrift, dissipation, and 
general no-account-ness. Cowper expressed this opinion in verse : 

"But poverty, with most who whimper forth 
Their long complaints, is self-inflicted woe; 
The effect of laziness, or sottish waste." 

There is surely some basis for this belief. Undoubtedly many 
persons spend their days in poverty because of these personal 
causes. In fact, there are a sufficient number of cases to make it 
easy to believe that most poverty is caused in this way. Such an 
explanation, however, by no means accounts for the bulk of 
poverty. Let us look into a number of other sources of poverty. 

1. Sickness and Accidents. When it is remembered that the 
income of thousands of families is at best barely sufficient to pro- 
vide the necessities of life and permits only the very slightest 
margin for savings, the tragedy of sickness and accidents will be 
more fully appreciated. 

In the report on national vitality prepared by Professor Irving 
Fisher for President Roosevelt's National Conservation Commis- 
sion it was estimated that in the United States there are about 
three million persons seriously ill at all times. The Commission 
on Industrial Relations estimated that the average American work- 
man loses nine days' work per year on account of sickness. In 
1919 there were in the United States a total of 575,000 accidents 
causing at least four weeks' disability. As a result of sickness 
and accidents tens of thousands of workers are unable to work from 
three months to six months out of the year. Not only do the 
wages of the sick or injured worker usually stop, but there is the 
added expense of doctors and medicine, to say nothing of the 
strain upon his wife. A sickness of several weeks often plunges 
a family into debt from which it may take years to escape. It is 
impossible to estimate the human tragedy represented in such cases. 

2. Old Age. The average unskilled worker reaches his maxi- 
mum earning power shortly after attaining to manhood. By the 
time he is married his income is about as high as it ever will be. 
The coming of each baby into the home means an added struggle 
and a lower standard of life. The income of unskilled workers 
is not sufficient to make possible any considerable saving for a 

14 



POVERTY— MISFORTUNE OR BLESSING? 

rainy day or for old age. As the worker gets on in years his 
earning capacity decreases, he finds it increasingly difficult to find 
work and the periods between jobs grow longer. One of two 
things happens; such a worker becomes dependent upon relatives, 
thus increasing their struggle, or he drifts into poverty, existing 
on a lower level of comfort or becoming a charge upon charity. 
There are few kinds of misery more acute than that felt by an 
old man who realizes that his earning capacity is growing less, 
and who is in constant fear that he will lose his job and become 
an object of charity. 

3. The Unemployable. In the aggregate a large group of 
persons are unemployable for one reason or another. This group 
includes cripples, invalids, the blind, epileptics, the feeble-minded 
and those of low intelligence, habitual vagrants, habitual criminals, 
those of depraved moral character. There are, of course, a multi- 
tude of causes for the disqualifications of the persons in this 
group. It cannot be questioned, however, that a considerable 
proportion of these causes are rooted in poverty. Ill health, 
invalidism, epilepsy, feeble-mindedness, vagrancy, and crime all 
thrive in the soil of poverty. These things are both causes and 
consequences of poverty. 

There are several other major causes of poverty, such as low 
wages in relation to the high cost of living, enforced unemploy- 
ment, and the inadequacy of the national income. Our final 
evaluation of the causes of poverty must await the discussion of 
these factors in the next chapter. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. What are the advantages, if any, of being poor? 

2. What are the disadvantages of being poor? 

3. Upon the whole, is it an advantage or a disadvantage to be 
poor? 

4. Where would you draw the line between desirable and un- 
desirable poverty? 

5. At which of the following levels do you think it would be 
most desirable for a family with three children to live? 

(Put on blackboard.) 

g. Extravagance $30,000 per year 

f . Luxury 15,000 per year 

e. Plenty 8,000 per year 

15 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

d. Enough for complete living 5,600 per year^ 

c. Reasonable comforts 3,500 per year 

b. Health and decency 2,200 per year^ 

a. Fair standard 1,700 per year^ 

(There will probably be discussion as to whether the estimated 
amounts are accurate. Let there be discussion on that and change 
amounts where there seems basis for same and a majority senti- 
ment.) 

6. Which, if any, of the levels of living are inconsistent for a 
Christian ? 

7. Some people say that Christianity has tended to make the 
common people accept poverty and bad conditions as the will of the 
Lord and to be content in the hopes of future happiness. What do 
you think? 

8. Some claim, on the contrary, that Jesus really took sides 
with the poor against the rich and powerful. What is your im- 
pressions from reading the record of Jesus' life? What evidence 
do you find? 

9. What contribution did Jesus make to the solution of the 
problem of poverty? What evidence, if any, that Christianity has 
reduced poverty in the world? (How about Christian versus non- 
Christian countries?) 



■^ Estimate of Edward W. Evans in article, "When a Christian Ques- 
tions Himself," The World Tomorrow, Nov., 1921. See page 42. 

2 Estimated Budget, United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washing- 
ton, D. C, August, 1919. See page 42. 

^ Estimated Budget, National Industrial Conference Board, New York 
City Special Report No. 19, Oct., 1921. See page 24. 



16 



CHAPTER 3 
Is Poverty a Serious Problem? 

President Harding, in his message at the opening of the second 
session of the Sixty-seventh Congress, said : "On the way up 
from the elemental stages of society, we have eliminated slavery 
and serfdom and are now far on the way to the elimination of 
poverty." 

This statement is in accord with the general opinion as to the 
amount of poverty in the United States. It is recognized, of 
course, that there are still many cases of poverty and that it will 
probably be necessary to appropriate public funds and solicit 
private philanthropy for the support of charitable institutions for 
a long time to come. But the opinion prevails that the number 
of persons who are in need of charitable aid are relatively few; 
that the great mass of people in the United States are living in 
comfortable circumstances and are quite able to look after them- 
selves. It is generally recognized that in the Orient and in parts 
of Europe poverty is a very serious problem. But the common 
opinion is that in the United States the situation is different ; the 
volume of poverty is not sufficient to cause alarm. 

The amount of poverty in the United States has never been 
accurately measured. Various estimates have been made, however, 
which are at variance with the general belief. Several different 
writers have estimated that the number of persons living in poverty 
or on the border line of the minimum subsistence level is approxi- 
mately 10,000,000.1 This figure is challenged and usually it is 
regarded as a gross exaggeration. 

Is there any way of getting at the facts in the case? Can we 
find out whether or not poverty is really a serious problem? There 
are at least four sources from which we can gain light : (1) public 
and private charitable agencies; (2) wage schedules; (3) income- 
tax figures ; (4) estimates of the national income. 



^ See the estimates of Robert Hunter, John Simpson Penman, and 
Maurice Parmelee. 

17 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

The records of charitable agencies by no means indicate the full 
amount of poverty. As a rule, only the extreme cases receive 
help from such agencies. But even so the figures are disturbing. 
After an analysis of relief records, Professor Parmelee estimates 
that the number of persons in the United States who receive more 
or less charitable aid ranges from five to ten per cent of the 
population. In New York City alone more than $60,000,000 a year 
is spent for charitable purposes. The fact that out of the total 
number of deaths in New York City one person in twelve is 
buried at public expense in the Potter's Field is an indication as to 
the enormous number of people who are living in poverty or are 
constantly hovering near the brink. 

RATES OF WAGES 

There is a widespread belief that workers have been receiving 
exorbitant wages during the last few years. This popular con- 
ception was set forth recently by a writer in a prominent religious 
periodical in these words : "Linotype operators who set the type 
come to work in their limousines ; pressmen have their summer 
homes up the Hudson ; binders keep their private yachts, and paper 
makers subscribe to grand opera." 

What are the facts as to the wages of skilled workers? In the 
September, 1921, issue of the Monthly Labor Review, an official 
publication of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, we 
find the union scale of wages for boiler makers, bricklayers, car- 
penters, cement finishers, compositors, electrotypers, granite 
cutters, inside wiremen, machine operators, machinists, iron 
moulders, painters, plasterers, plumbers, sheet metal workers, in 
some forty American cities from 1913 to 1921. These tables show 
a very marked increase in the scale of wages for 1921 as compared 
with 1913. The 1921 rates vary from $1.25 an hour to seventy-five 
cents per hour. The table shows that in the forty cities there were 
only about a dozen cases in all of these occupations where the 
rate was higher than $1.25 per hour. There was a considerably 
larger number of cases where the rates were below seventy-five 
cents an hour, in several instances being as low as fifty-five cents 
and sixty cents an hour. The above figures do not include hod- 
carriers and ordinary laborers but only skilled workers. 

At the rate of $1.25 an hour a skilled worker receives $60 for 
six days of eight hours each. This amounts to $3,120 for the year, 
if the worker is employed six full days every week. At the rate 

18 



IS POVERTY A SERIOUS PROBLEM? 

of seventy-five cents per hour a skilled worker receives %2>6 per 
week or $1,872 for a full year. But, of course, these men are not 
able to work every day in the year. Even in normal times there 
is a considerable volume of lost time due to bad weather, slack 
seasons, change of jobs, holidays, sickness, or accidents. The 
Committee on Elimination of Waste in Industry of the Federated 
American Engineering Societies, appointed by Herbert Hoover, 
estimates that "the building-trade workman is employed only about 
190 days in the year, or approximately sixty-three per cent of his 
time."i 

This thirty-seven per cent loss of time reduces the average 
income of the $1.25-per-hour-man to $37.80 per week or $1,965.60 
per year. The average income of the seventy-five-cents-per-hour- 
man is reduced to $22.68 per week or $1,179.36 per year. 

There are many occupations in which the extent of lost time is 
not so great as in the building trades. There are, however, many 
seasonal occupations in which the volume of lost time is even 
greater. It ought to be remembered also that in years of severe 
trade depression the amount of lost time is very greatly increased. 
During the past year, for example, several millions of workers 
have been employed less than half time. From four to five millions 
of workers have been unemployed at a given date. Even in normal 
times an appalling number of men are unable to find regular 
employment. The report of the Federal Commission on Industrial 
Relations says : "Wage-earners in the principal manufacturing 
and mining industries in the United States lose on the average 
from one-fifth to one-fourth of the working time during the 
normal year."^ 

Concerning the amount of lost time in the various industries, 
Mr. Hoover's Committee on the Elimination of Waste says : "The 
clothing worker is idle about thirty-one per cent of the year ; the 
average shoe-maker spends only sixty-five per cent of his time 
at work; the building-trade workman is employed only about 190 
days in the year or approximately sixty-three per cent of his 
time ; the textile industry seemingly has regular intervals of slack 
time ; during the past thirty years bituminous-coal miners were 
idle an average of ninety-three possible working days per year."^ 

It is often assumed that railway employes are receiving unduly 



1 "Waste in Industry," p. 16. 

2 Senate Document, No. 415, p. 103. 
^ "Waste in Industry," p. 16. 

19 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

high wages. Tables prepared by the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission do not bear out such an assumption. Aside from the 
executives and official staffs, the average earnings of no group 
of railroad employes in September, 1921, was as high as $260 per 
month. The total number of employes in groups whose average 
earnings were less than $1,500 per year was 841,294, or forty-eight 
per cent of all railway employes, while the total number in groups 
whose average earnings were less than $1,200 per year was 431,249, 
or twenty-five per cent of all railway employes.^ 

There are, no doubt, many skilled workers who have been 
earning relatively high wages and who have been able to secure 
regular employment. But only an exceedingly small proportion 
of skilled workers receive as much as $1.25 per hour, or $3,120 
per year, and of these the large majority are unemployed from 
ten to forty per cent of the time. The facts in the case do not 
bear out the popular belief that workers are receiving exorbitant 
wages. It should also be remembered that there have been heavy 
reductions in wages during the past two years. 

Let us now examine the wage rates for unskilled workers. In 
the steel industry the current rate for ordinary laborers is thirty 
cents and twenty-five cents an hour. Common laborers in the 
employ of railroad companies receive from forty cents to twenty 
cents per hour. This means that unskilled workers are now receiv- 
ing from $24 to $12 per week for ten hours per day, six days per 
week. 

In 1919 the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics made a 
survey of twenty-seven different industries in forty-three states 
having a total of 318,946 male employes and 85,812 female 
employes. 2 An examination of the record of this survey will 
shed light on current rates of wages, since there is conclusive 
evidence, that the rates for common laborers are now much less 
than in 1919. In the steel industry, for example, unskilled 
workers received $4.62 for ten hours in 1919, whereas the current 
rate is $3.00 for ten hours. This is the same rate that was paid 
in May, 1917. Keeping in mind the fact that 1919 rates were 
much higher than 1922 rates, let us analyze the figures of the 
1919 survey. 

Of the 318,946 male employes included in this survey less than 



^Quoted in "The Wage Question," p. 21, a pamphlet published by the 
Research Department of the Federal Council of Churches. 
2 U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 265. 

20 



IS POVERTY A SERIOUS PROBLEM? 

six per cent received as much as $1 per hour. Less than twenty- 
one per cent received as much as seventy cents per hour. More 
than forty-seven per cent of the total number received less than 
fifty cents per hour, while nearly seven per cent received less than 
thirty cents per hour. 

In April, 1921, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics 
made a study of wages in thirty- four slaughter houses and meat 
packing plants. ^ Of the 28,969 male employes working in these 
establishments, only eight per cent received as much as sixty-five 
cents per hour, while sixty-six per cent received less than fifty 
cents per hour. There have been marked reductions in the rates 
since April, 1921. 

In July, 1921, the New York State Industrial Commission issued 
a report covering the average weekly earnings in 1,648 repre- 
sentative factories employing a total of 450,000 workers in ten 
industries, as follows : 

Stone, clay, and glass $26.04 

Metals and machinery 27.79 

Wood manufacturers 24.85 

Furs, leather, and rubber goods 25.22 

Chemicals, oils, and paints 26.61 

Paper manufacture 26.47 

Printing and paper goods 30.33 

Textiles 20.78 

Clothing 23.28 

Food, beverages, and tobacco 24.48 

Total, all industries $25.71 

These figures will assume added significance when it is remem- 
bered that a large proportion of these 450,000 workers received 
much less than the average of $25.71 per week. The average 
earnings of these workers is less now than in July, 1921. 

The United States Department of Agriculture has estimated that 
farm laborers during 1921 received an average of $42.65 per 
month without board. At harvest time farm laborers were paid 
an average of $2.80 per day without board, and at other seasons 
an average of $2.17 per day without board. The rates in many 
sections are much lower than these. 

What are the facts as to women's wages? In the survey made 



U. S. Monthly Labor Review, Sept., 1921. 

21 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1919,i when 
wages were higher than in 1922, it was found that approximately 
twenty-one per cent of the women received less than $11 per 
week, while fifty per cent received less than $13.50 per week — 
when six full days were worked. An investigation made by the 
Council of National Defence and Minnesota Bureau of Women 
and Children of women's wages in Minnesota in 1918, revealed 
the fact that out of the 51,361 included in the survey, ^ approxi- 
mately forty-seven per cent received less than $10 per week, while 
less than twenty per cent received as much as $15 per week. 

The New York State Department of Labor has issued a bulletin 
dealing with the wages of 61,160 women employed in factories 
and mercantile establishments at the end of 1918. ^ Approximately 
half of the total number received less than $11.50 per week. 
Average wage rates are now lower than at the end of 1918. 

In the summer of 1920 the Women's Bureau of the United 
States Department of Labor made an investigation of women's 
wages in Kansas. Of the 4,138 women included in the survey, 
fifty per cent received less than $12 per week, while seventy per 
cent received less than $15 per week. Rates have been reduced 
since the summer of 1920. Of the 1,298 saleswomen employed 
in five and ten cent, stores investigated by the New York Depart- 
ment of Labor in September, 1921, twenty-eight per cent received 
less than $12 per week, while seventy-six per cent received less 
than $15 per week. 

INCOME-TAX RETURNS 

An important analysis of incomes in the United States has 
recently appeared.* It represents a year's intensive study on the 
part of four members of the staff of the National Bureau of 
Economic Research.^ This report estimates that of the more 



1 District of Columbia Minimum Wage Cases, Brief for Appelees by Felix 
Frankfurter, p. 319 — taken from Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin 265. 

^Ibid., p. 339. 

^ Ibid., p. 351. 

* "The Income in the United States." 

^ The National Bureau of Economic Research is controlled by nineteen 
directors, including representatives from the U. S. Treasury Department, 
the National Industrial Conference Board, The American Economic Asso- 
ciation, The American Bankers' Association, The American Federation of 
Labor, The Engineering Council, The American Statistical Association, 
etc. Its findings may be depended upon as scientific and impartial. 

22 



IS POVERTY A SERIOUS PROBLEM? 

than thirty-seven millions of persons in the United States having 
an income, more than fourteen and one-half millions received less 
than $1,000 for the year 1918, and more than twenty-seven mil- 
lions received less than $1,500 for the year. Or to put it another 
way, only ten and one-half millions, or twenty-eight per cent, 
received an income as high as $1,500 for the year. 

There are upwards of twenty million families in the United 
States and in approximately half of these the head of the family 
received an income of less than $1,500. Only a few more than 
five million persons received as much as $2,000 during 1918. 

This estimate of 5,290,649 persons as having an income above 
$2,000 is higher than the official income-tax figures. Only 4,425,- 
114 persons filed any return whatever and of these only 2,908,176 
gave their net income as above $2,000. The difference in the two 
figures is due to the fact that the staff of the National Bureau 
of Economic Research made allowances for non-taxable income, 
for under-reporting, and for non-reporting of income. 

This report classifies these incomes as follows \^ 

No. of incomes under $500 2,027,554 

No. of incomes under $1,000 14,558,224 

No. of incomes under $1,500 27,056,344 

No. of incomes under $2,000 32,278,41 P 

No. of incomes above $2,000 5,290,649 

Total number of incomes 37,569,060 

NATIONAL INCOME 

Let us come at this question from another angle. The total 
income in the United States during 1918 has been estimated by 
the National Bureau of Economic Research at sixty-one billions 
of dollars.^ This means an annual income of $581 per capita, or 
approximately $2,900 for each of the twenty-one million families. 
But, of course, it is not possible to divide this income equally. 
From six to nine millions of this amount are expended for govern- 
ment and other public functions. At least ten per cent of the 
national income should be reserved for the maintenance and 



ip. 136. 

2 Not including farmers, the number of incomes under $2,000 was 
30,450,000 and the number of incomes above $2,000 was 3,400,000. 

3 p. 76. 

23 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

expansion of industry if production is to be sustained. Not more 
than forty-eight billions of the national income would be available 
for equal distribution among all the population. This would 
mean an average income of less than $2,300 per family, even if 
the available income should be divided equally. But, of course, 
the national income is not divided equally. More than 254,000 
persons receive an income of at least $10,000 per year, and upwards 
of 842,000 persons receive an income of more than $5,000 per year. 

THE HIGH COST OF LIVING 

The significance of these wage schedules and income-tax 
figures can be understood only as we take into account the high 
cost of living. How much does it cost a family to maintain a 
decent standard of life? 

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics issues minimum 
quantity and cost budgets from time to time. Similar budgets are 
also issued by several other agencies, including the National 
Industrial Conference Board, a research organization maintained 
by employers' associations. In August, 1919, the United States 
Bureau of Labor Statistics prepared a minimum health and decency 
budget for a family of five^ — father, mother, and three children 
under fifteen — in Washington, D. C. The total budget, after 
deducting for minor economies, amounted to $2,015.56. In July, 
1918, Professor W. F. Ogburn prepared a minimum comfort 
budget for the National War Labor Board, the total cost of 
which he placed at $1,760.50. In September, 1921, the National 
Industrial Conference Board prepared a "fair minimum standard" 
budget for Detroit. The total figure of the budget for a family 
of five was set at $1,697.95 per year, or $32.66 per week. 

Reducing the former budgets to prices prevailing in September, 
1921, we have three minimum budgets as follows: 

United Bureau of Labor statistics $1,940.98 

National War Labor Board 2,014.57 

National Industrial Conference Board 1,697.95 

Let us analyze one of these budgets, taking for this purpose 
the National Industrial Conference Board estimate,^ since it was 



^ National Industrial Conference Board, "The Cost of Living Among 
Wage-Earners," Detroit, Mich., Sept., 1921. Special Report No. 19, Oct., 
1921. 

24 



IS POVERTY A SERIOUS PROBLEM? 

prepared under the direction of employers. The amounts for the 
various items in this weekly budget for father, mother, and three 
children under fifteen are as follows : 

Food «.. $10.30 

Shelter 8.08 

Clothing 5.68 

Fuel and light 2.20 

Sundries 6.40 

Reduced to still smaller detail the item of $10.30 per week for 
food means an average of forty-nine cents per meal for the entire 
family, or eleven cents each for father and mother and nine 
cents each for three children. The item of $6.40 per week for 
sundries must include all expenditures for household supplies and 
furnishings, physician, dentist, drugs, laundry, carfare, newspapers, 
education, amusements and recreation, church and charity, insur- 
ance, and burials. 

The National Industrial Conference Board also prepared a 
minimum budget for a family of four and another for a family of 
three. The figures for father, mother, and two children was set 
at $29.37 per week or $1,527.08 per year, and the figure for a 
family in which there is only one child at $24.10 per week or 
$1,252.81 per year. 

Let us now compare the incomes of unskilled workers with the 
minimum budget for a family of five prepared by the National 
Industrial Conference Board. The striking fact is that the 
income of all workers who receive sixty-five cents per hour or 
less, and who work ten hours per day, and who lose an average of 
twenty per cent working time, falls short of this minimum 
budget. The significance of this fact will be understood when it 
is remembered that very few unskilled workers receive as much 
as sixty-five cents per hour. The following table shows how 
much below the minimum budget the various rates are : 



25 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

A Comparison of Wage Rates with the Minimum Budgets of 
THE National Industrial Conference Board 

Cents 60-hour week, Amount income falls short of weekly budg-et for 

per less 20 per cent family of family of family of 



;our 


lost time 


five 


four 


three 


65 


$31.20 


$ 1.46 






60 


28.80 


3.86 


$ .57 




55 


26.40 


6.26 


2.97 




50 


24.00 


8.66 


5.37 


$ .10 


40 


19.20 


13.46 


10.17 


4.90 


35 


16.80 


15.86 


12.57 


7.30 


30 


14.40 


18.26 


14.97 


9.70 


25 


12.00 


20.66 


17.37 


12.10 


20 


9.60 


23.06 


19.77 


14.50 



In the light of the wage schedules, income-tax returns, an analy- 
sis of the national income, and minimum budgets, it seems difficult 
to question the essential accuracy of the conclusion reached by the 
Federal Commission on Industrial Relations that "a large part of 
our industrial population are, as a result of the combination of 
low wages and unemployment, living in a condition of actual 
poverty. How large this proportion is cannot be exactly deter- 
mined, but it is certain that at least one-third and possibly one-half 
of the families of wage earners employed in manufacturing and 
mining earn in the course of the year less than enough to support 
them in anything like a comfortable and decent condition."^ 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. It is sometimes claimed that aside from a small proportion 
of cases due to sickness and misfortunes, which should be covered 
by philanthropy, no one who is thrifty needs to be without enough 
on which to live, and that the rank and file of folks can get along 
very well. What is your impression? 

2. There is a widespread feeling that the workers are living 
in comparative luxury, having expensive clothes, buying auto- 
mobiles, and spending money extravagantly. Why do people think 
labor is being paid too much? 

3. Is poverty really a serious problem? The answer to this 
question depends upon the consideration of two questions : 

a. What does it cost to live? 



Senate Document No. 415, p. 22. 

26 



IS POVERTY A SERIOUS PROBLEM? 

b. What proportion of the workers are receiving less than a 
minimum subsistence wage? 

Information on this will be found in the chapter and should 
be studied in answer to these questions. To introduce this material 
vividly into the discussion, the leader should select some of the 
salient facts and have them ready for display, either on a black- 
board or a large sheet of cardboard. Following is a possible 
display of this sort : 

A. What does it cost to live? 

Employers' estimate of minimum subsistence budget. 

Detroit, Mich., Sept., 1921. 

(Page 14, Special Report No. 19, National Industrial Conference 

Board, New York City, on "The Cost of Living among 

Wage Earners.") 

For family with one child $24.10 per week $1,252.81 per year 

For family with two children 29.37 per week 1,527.08 per year 

For family with three children 32.66 per week 1,697,95 per year 

B. What the workers are being paid. 

In 10 million of the 20 million families in the United States, the 
head of the family is receiving $1,500 or less per year. 

The railroad workers are supposed to be highly paid. In Sep- 
tember, 1921, 48.95 per cent of railway workers were receiving less 
than $1,500 per year. 

In June, 1921, ten chief industries of New York State, represent- 
ing 450,000 workers, the average wage was $25.71 per week or 
$1,336.92 per year. 

Wages of common labor in steel industry is 30 cents per hour or 
$936 per year on a ten-hour day. 

c. Surplus or deficit for family with three children. 
(Based on Detroit budgets and living costs.) 
8-hour day. Twenty per cent loss of time^ 
If rate is $1.25 per hour, surplus per week above subsistence^ is $15.34 
If rate is 1.00 per hour, surplus per week above subsistence is 5.74 
If rate is .80 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is 1.94 

If rate is .55 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is 11.54 



^ This is the average estimated loss of time in building and similar 
skilled trades. 

- The table on p. 25 may be taken as a fair index in its items of expendi- 
tures as to what is meant by "subsistence." 

27 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

lo-hour day. Full time. 6o-hour week 

If rate is .50 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is $ 2.66 

If rate is .40 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is 8.66 

If rate is .30 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is 14.66 

If rate is .20 per hour, deficit per week below subsistence is 20.66 

(Compare this schedule with local costs and rates. The leader 
may wish to substitute table as given at top of page 26.) 

D. Conclusion of United States Commission on Industrial 
Relations. 
"It is evident both from the investigations of this commission 
and from the reports of all recent governmental bodies that a 
large part of our industrial populations are, as a result of the 
combination of low wages and unemployment, living in a condition 
of actual poverty. How large this proportion is cannot be exactly 
determined, but it is certain that at least one-third and possibly 
one-half of the families of wage earners employed in manufactur- 
ing and mining earn in the course of the year less than enough to 
support them in anything like comfortable and decent conditions." 

4. In the light of the study and discussion of this problem, do 
you or do you not consider having enough on which to live is a 
serious problem in this country? Is poverty a serious problem? 

5. At present if all the available income were divided up it 
would give only $2,300 to each family. Because of low produc- 
tion, luxury production and extravagance there isn't enough to go 
around and give everybody anything above a Health and Decency 
Budget of $2,500 per year. Which is better, that a smaller pro- 
portion have plenty while many are in want, or would it be better 
to attempt more nearly to equalize incomes? 

6. In a country completely Christian would there or would 
there not be any poor? Would the thorough application of Chris- 
tian principles to social and industrial life increase the income so 
that each family would have enough for reasonable comforts or 
complete living? 

7. What are the causes of poverty? Can poverty be eradicated? 



28 



u 



CHAPTER 4 

Do Great Fortunes Help or Hinder 
Social Progress? 

For the purpose of this discussion let us arbitrarily define a 
great fortune as one valued at a million dollars or with an income 
of $50,000 per year. It is estimated that in the United States in 
1918 there were 21,453 incomes of $50,000 or above. We are also 
told that : "more than forty families in the United States have in 
excess of 100 millions each.' More than 100 other families have 
in excess of fifty millions each. More than 300 other families 
have in excess of twenty millions each."^ The question with 
which we are concerned in the following paragraphs is this : Is 
it a good thing or a bad thing for the country as a whole to have 
this degree of concentration of wealth? 

DO THE RICH DESERVE TO BE RICH? 

Before we examine both sides of the argument, a prior question 
must be dealt with. It is often contended that regardless of 
whether great fortunes are a blessing or a menace to the country, 
society has no right to interfere because to do so would be an 
unwarranted invasion of private ownership. 

The basis of this attitude is that wealth is achieved by superior 
ability, self-control, and a high degree of self-sacrifice. So we 
are told : "The most extraordinary thing that makes for human 
inequality is the diversity of ability and quality in the human mind. 
.... Why is the accumulated wealth of the country in the hands 
of a comparative few? It is because there are comparatively few 
of all men born, who are able or willing to control their appetites 
and their spendings. There are few who appreciate the need of 
saving. There are few who realize what can be done with the 



^ "Dynastic America," p. 13, by H. H. Klein, Deputy Commissioner of 
Accounts of New York City. 

29 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

accumulations of thrift and saving." The adherents to this view- 
go on to say that since wealth is the reward of toil, good judg- 
ment, self-denial, and saving, it would be morally wrong to inter- 
fere with great fortunes. 

There is surely much to be said for this point of view. It is 
unfortunately true that many people have low intelligence and 
poor judgment, and that many others are self-indulgent, lacking 
in thrift, and never able to save anything. From the viewpoint 
of social welfare it is highly questionable whether this latter group 
should receive the same rewards as are given to the intelligent, 
industrious, and thrifty. 

And yet there are several fallacies in the argument outlined 
above. As a matter of actual fact, were the 21,000 great fortunes 
in the United States achieved by unusual brain power, hard work, 
and self-denial? There is considerable doubt as to whether very 
many of these great fortunes were achieved solely in this manner. 
Let us examine the sources of a few of them. 

The fortune of the Astor family now runs into hundreds of 
millions of dollars. John Jacob Astor got his start by trading 
with the Indians — exchanging beads, knives, guns, and whiskey 
for furs. His profits were invested in New York real estate. 
Dozens of lots on lov/er Broadway for which he paid $300 are 
now valued at $400,000. An east side farm which cost him 
$20,000 is now valued at more than ten millions. The growth of 
New York City has increased the value of property decade after 
decade, with the result that millions of dollars have been flowing 
steadily into the treasuries of the Astor family. It surely cannot 
be said that the present owners of the Astor fortune enjoy it as 
a reward for frugalities and personal effort. 

( Our largest fortune came from oil. The Standard Oil Com- \ 
pahy has distributed more than $1,500,000,000 in cash dividends. ) 
Other large fortunes have been made from timber, others from 
mining, others from the steel industry. These great fortunes are 
all based on the exploitation of natural resources — land, timber, . 
oil, coal, ore. What proportion of these fortunes is due to ability, 
thrift, and self-denial? What proportion is due to the controlof | 
natural resources, in the creation of which the owners had no part^?y' 

Or consider the great fortunes made from railways. Notwith- 
standing the ability of a Harriman or a Hill, could these fortunes 
have been accumulated apart from the huge land grants to rail- 
ways by the United States Government — amounting in all to 
215,000,000 acres? 

30 



DO GREAT FORTUNES HELP OR HINDER? 

Alany of our great fortunes came as a result of speculation and 
manipulation of stocks. On numerous occasions millions of dollars 
have been made over night by the skillful manipulation of the 
stock market. Consider the fortune of Andrew Carnegie. It is 
generally supposed that his fortune was achieved in making steel. 
So far as the bulk of his fortune was concerned, such was not 
the case. It came through manipulating the stock market and 
especially by frightening his competitors into the formation of 
the United States Steel Corporation and the payment of 447 mil- 
lion dollars for his stock, which only a little while before he had 
offered to Henry Frick and William Moore for 158 millions, and 
on which they had deposited a million dollars as an option.^ 

Huge fortunes were made from war industries. The duPont 
corporation made net profits of nearly 200 million dollars in three 
years from the manufacture of munitions. It has been estimated 
that the corporations of the United States made excess profits 
amounting to fourteen billion dollars during 1916 over and above 
regular pre-war profits. 

It is undoubtedly true that practically all of our fortunes 
amounting to as much as a million dollars came as a result of 
control of natural resources — land, timber, oil, mining, ores — or as 
a result of speculation and manipulation. Income-tax returns 
show that of annual incomes above $100,000 the proportion which 
comes from property ranges from fifty-nine to ninety-six per 
cent, as follows : 

Income-Tax Returns for 1918^ 





Per cent of total income 


Percent of total 




derived from personal 


income derived 


Income classes 


service and business 


from property 


$ 100,000 to $ 150,000 


41 


59 


150,000 to 200,000 


39 


. 61 


200,000 to 250,000 


41 • 


59 


250,000 to 300,000 


41 


59 


300,000 to 500,000 


39 


61 


500,000 to 1,000,000 


28 


72 


1,000,000 to 1,500,000 


30 


70 


1,500,000 to 2,000,000 


29 


71 


2,000,000 and over 


4 


96 



See John Moody, "Masters of Capital," pp. 77, 83. 

United States Internal Revenue, "Statistics of Income for 1918, 

31 



p. 9. 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

It is true, of course, that a few great fortunes are due directly 
to extraordinary business genius, apart from the control of 
natural resources. The contribution to social progress made by 
such men is really worth millions of dollars. For this reason 
society has been willing that these men should receive huge for- 
tunes as personal rewards. 

Business men, however, are not the only persons who render 
conspicuous public service and who are really worth millions of 
dollars to a community. Consider the case of a specialist in educa- 
tion, who by years of painstaking research has developed superior 
methods of teaching and who is thus able to increase the effective- 
ness of tens of thousands of teachers and through them raise the 
general level of intelligence throughout a nation. Or consider a 
physician, who at the risk of his own life has made a medical 
discovery which will relieve the pain of thousands of sufferers. 
Or consider the case of a minister, who by devotion and zeal has 
been the means of transforming useless and unhappy men and 
women into purified and consecrated individuals who find their joy 
in the serving of others and in the building of a new and better 
world. 

Are these men less valuable to society than business men? Is 
not the public contribution of such men and women worth many 
millions? Why should business men receive disproportionately 
large financial rewards for service which is no greater than that 
of those who spend themselves in other fields? At what point 
would the limitation of financial reward slow up the initiative and 
energy of business men? Which is the greater incentive to 
achievement, financial reward or the realization of public service? 
How big a financial reward can society afford to pay business 
genius ? 

With regard to the argument that a business man is entitled to 
wealth because of his thrift, energy, and self-denial, does he 
exercise these virtues ^o a degree which is not true of men in 
other professions? Does the rich business man work more hours 
per day than do his employes? Do the thrift and self-denial of 
the business man exceed that of the college professor or social 
worker? Is the self-sacrifice of the owner of a great fortune 
the chief cause of his wealth? In the case of a man who saves 
$75,000 a year and spends $25,000 upon himself and family, can 
we speak of this man as self-sacrificing? Is there not a "satura- 
tion" point beyond which a man is compelled to save or deliberately 
waste his substance? Does not this "saturation" point for most 

Z2 



DO GREAT FORTUNES HELP OR HINDER? 

persons fall below $25,000 a year? Beyond this point, is saving 
to be regarded as self-renunciation? 

What shall we say concerning the argument that a man has a 
"right" to the proceeds of his intelligence, toil, and thrift? Would 
it be justifiable for a surgeon to withhold a discovery which would 
relieve the suffering of multitudes until assured of a huge financial 
reward? Is there any limit to the amount of property to which 
an individual has the "right" of ownership? In a world where 
there is not a sufficient quantity of material comforts and luxuries 
to go around, does an individual have a "right" to all that he can 
lay hands upon, even if he keeps within legal and customary 
methods of business? 

What shall we say of those great fortunes which were inherited 
and for which the "superior ability, perseverance, and thrift" of 
the present owners were in no wise responsible? From the view- 
point of social welfare, what is the justification of this kind of 
great fortune? 

ARE GREAT FORTUNES A SOCIAL ASSET? 

Perhaps we are now in a better position to discuss our original 
question : Do great fortunes help or hinder social progress ? 

(1) There are, of course, very many advantages that come 
from great fortunes. Wealth makes possible the greater develop- 
ment of personality, through leisure, literature, art, music, con- 
genial surroundings^ travel, and other cultural advantages. Wealth 
also makes it possible for a man to provide adequately for his 
family and to give his children superior advantages. 

There is also another side to this story. Wealth often leads to 
idleness and dissipation and is a great barrier to the development 
of personality. There is also a grave doubt as to whether the 
training received by children in the homes of great fortunes is as 
wholesome and valuable as the training received by children in 
homes that are only comfortably fixed. In this connection, former 
President Eliot of Harvard says : "The most serious disadvantage 
under which very rich people labor is in the bringing up of their 
children. It is well-nigh impossible for a very rich man to 
defend his children from habits of self-indulgence, laziness, and 
selfishness." 

The teaching of Jesus is filled with warnings against the perils 
of great riches. He once startled His hearers by saying : "How 
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! 

Z2, 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answereth 
again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that 
trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! It is easier 
for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man 
to enter into the kingdom of God." Jesus also said: "Lay not 
up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust 
consume, and where thieves break through and steal." And again 
He said: "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness : 
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things 
which he possesseth." In a striking parable He pictures the 
doom of the rich man who said: "This will I do : I will pull 
down my barns, and will build greater, and there will I bestow 
all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul. Soul, 
thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, 
drink, be merry." The parable of the rich young ruler also 
reveals the perils of wealth. It is doubtful whether we are justi- 
fied in saying that Jesus always condemned the holding of great 
wealth. It is certain, however, that He recognized the perils of 
wealth and frequently warned His hearers against these dangers. 

(2) Great fortunes are the source of large gifts for charity 
and other philanthropic purposes. Many hospitals, settlement 
houses, homes for dependents, colleges, libraries, and Christian 
institutions are almost wholly dependent upon gifts from wealthy 
people. There is no doubt that an immense amount of good has 
been accomplished by the gifts of such men as Mr. Carnegie and 
Mr. Rockefeller, and by such philanthropic foundations as the 
General Education Board and the Rockefeller Foundation. It is 
true that in many towns the most significant improvements are 
the_gifts of benevolent citizens. 

"Over against the social values of great fortunes must be placed 
the social dangers of concentrated wealth. Great fortunes make 
possible the control of the press, the domination of educational 
institutions, and the exerting of undue influence over public 
opinion. This in turn is responsible for legislation which is more 
concerned with the protection of the property of the rich than 
the lives of the poon . 

(3) A third advantage of great fortunes is that concentration 
makes possible large-scale production and effective administration. 
It is maintained that concentration of wealth makes possible a 
greater degree of surplus and provides the necessary capital for 
the expansion of industry. There is also greater mobility of capital 

34 



DO GREAT FORTUNES HELP OR HINDER? 

when it is concentrated. Great fortunes make possible the taking 
of greater risks in prospecting for oil or minerals, in experiment- 
ing with new machinery, and in developing new industries. It is 
also maintained that democracy in industry menaces efficiency and 
that only by means of autocratic control on the part of the manage- 
ment can industry be conducted efficiently. 

Autocracy in industry has its bad side as well as its good side. 
The concentration of wealth usually involves absentee ownership 
and control. Thousands of plants and mines all over the country 
are controlled from Wall Street and lower Broadway. Business 
under absentee ownership is more and more impersonal. As a 
consequence there is a strong tendency to neglect the human ele- 
ment. A distinguished English manufacturer who recently visited 
the United States expressed great admiration for the mechanical 
efficiency in the plants inspected, but he also expressed amazement 
at the neglect in most of them of the human factor. 

Moreover it is to be feared that the investment of their capital 
by the holders of great fortunes is more often prompted by 
speculative interest than by social vision. And as for the social 
surplus, no one knows what degree of production democratic 
cooperation would yield. 

Great fortunes and industrial autocracy are a very grave menace 
to the interests of the workers. The individual worker is abso- 
lutely at the mercy of huge corporations and even the strongest 
unions are no match for the high degree of concentration of 
wealth made possible by great fortunes. 

(4) There are many persons who, while recognizing the danger 
of the concentration of wealth, feel nevertheless that government 
and industry are safer in the hands of the intelligent and self- 
controlled few than they would be under the administration of 
the mediocre and undisciplined masses. They recognize that 
society has to pay a high price for the leadership of the rich, but 
feel that, after all, it is a good investment. They say that the 
country as a whole is better off because of this leadership. It is 
contended that the mass of people are uneducated, lacking in 
intelligence and quite incapable of assuming responsibility for the 
control of industry. The results of the army-draft intelligence 
tests are cited in substantiation of this contention. Leading articles 
in current periodicals deal with "democratic misgivings." A 
genuine fear of the rule of the common people is widely prevalent. 
So far as democracy in industry is concerned the very idea strikes 

35 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

consternation into the minds of many people. A leading engineer 
speaks of industrial democracy as "jargon," and quotes with 
approval this sentiment : "The many can prosper only through 
the participation in benefits which, in the way alike of material 
comfort, opportunity, culture, and social freedom, would be pos- 
sible for no one unless the many submitted themselves to the 
influence or authority of the super-capable few." 

Some years ago Mr. Andrew Carnegie said: "We must accept 
and welcome, therefore, as conditions to which we must accommo- 
date ourselves, great inequality of environment ; the concentration 
of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of the few ; 
the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial 
but essential to the future progress of the race The mil- 
lionaire will be but a trustee for the poor, intrusted for a season 
with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but 
administering it for the community far better than it could or 

would have done for itself The condition of the masses is 

satisfactory just in proportion as a country is blessed with mil- 
lionaires. "i 

Over against this doctrine of paternalism, there is a widespread 
belief in real democracy. Those who believe in democracy say 
that the real issue is not the material prosperity of the country 
so much as it is one of the status and relationship of peoples. A 
strong case can be made out that many Negroes were better fed, 
clothed, and housed while they were slaves than after they were 
freed. This fact does not necessarily mean that slavery was 
better than freedom. The principles involved in this question as 
to whether paternalism is better than democracy are in a very 
real sense parallel with those in the issue of slavery. The funda- 
mental issue is that of personal status. 

The ideal of a superior people controlling wealth and privilege 
and handing down favors to other people is a fundamental con- 
tradiction of the worth and dignity of human beings. It is an 
absolute denial of brotherhood. The continuation of paternalism 
can have no other result than the creation of a servile people. 
This is too great a price to pay even if it could be demonstrated 
beyond doubt that paternalism results in higher production and 
greater industrial efficiency. After all, a nation's life consists 
not in the abundance of things possessed, but rather in the quality 
of its men and women. 



"The Gospel of Wealth," pp. 4, 18, 52. 

36 



DO GREAT FORTUNES HELP OR HINDER? 

It has, however, by no means been demonstrated beyond doubt 
that paternalism is socially more efficient than democracy. Even 
in the realm of philanthropy the smaller gifts of the many are 
better than the large gifts of the few. Under paternalism respon- 
sibility is placed in the hands of the few, with the consequence that 
' vast creative energy is left undeveloped because of lack of oppor- 
tunity and responsibility"^ We learn by doing. Development comes 
through expression. Paternalism has the inherent weakness that 
it does things for the workers, rather than thrusting upon them 
the responsibility of doing things for themselves. It is still 
further handicapped by reason of the increasing revolt of the 
workers against an inferior status. The growth of popular educa- 
tion makes paternalism more and more intolerable. The workers 
of tomorrow simply will not exert themselves under paternalism. 
Material efficiency, as well as the development of personality, 
demands that increasing responsibility be placed in the hands of 
the workers. Democracy, not paternalism, is the way to efficiency 
and character. 

/'^^^'Rie' argument against paternalism has been well expressed by 
former President Wilson in these words : "I am one of those who 
absolutely reject the trustee theory, the guardianship theory. 
.... I, for my part, do not want to be taken care of. I would 
rather starve a free man than be fed a mere thing at the caprice 
of those who are organizing our industry as they please to 

organize it I don't care how benevolent the master is going 

to be, I will not live under a master Justice is what we 

want, not patronage and pitiful helpfulness There is no 

salvation for men in pitiful condescension of industrial masters. 
Guardians have no place in a land of freemen. Prosperity guar- 
anteed by trustees has no prospect of endurance,".^ 

In the present chapter we have not attempted to say whether 
or not modern business methods are contrary to the principles of 
Jesus. The ethics of speculation, private exploitation of natural 
resources, unearned increment, and such questions are beyond the 
range of this chapter. We have sought to raise only one issue : 
Do great fortunes help or hinder social progress? This question 
will be answered as we answer such questions as these : 
Is the chief end of society the production of goods or the creation 

of men and women with character and intelligence? 



^ The New Freedom. 

Z7 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Is paternalism better adapted than democracy to develop initiative 

and self-reliance on the part of the workers? 
In the long run, does progress come from above or from below? 
Is the vast inequality of wealth and privilege consistent with 

brotherhood ? 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

I. Do THE Rich Deserve to be Rich? 

1. What instances do you know of fortunes which were secured 
by superior ability ; what instances of fortunes built up 
through chance or fortunate circumstances? 

2. What proportion of fortunes are due to superior ability ; 
what proportion to chance? 

3. A doctor, teacher, minister, or scientist is not rewarded by 
society in proportion to that received by business men. Is 
the business man's contribution to society enough superior 
to justify his higher financial return? Why do you think so? 

4. At what point would the limitation of financial reward slow 
up the initiative and energy of business men? Which is the 
greater incentive to achievement ; financial reward or the 
realization of public service? Is there sufficient realization 
of public service in business to prove an incentive for 
achievement ? 

5. How big a reward can society afford to pay business genius? 

6. Should reward be on the basis of — 

a. Ability. 

b. Need. 

c. Service.' 

7. Do the rich deserve to be rich? 

II. Are Great Fortunes a Social Asset? 
J. Effect upon Human Relations. 

a. What instances have you known, if any, of brotherly 
relations between a very rich and a very poor man? 

b. Is it possible for a man with a million-dollar income 
and a poor man on a bare subsistence to have as brotherly 
relations as if they had more nearly equal income? Why 
or why not? Does wealth rob the rich of human rela- 
tionships ? 

38 



DO GREAT FORTUNES HELP OR HINDER? 

Effect upoti Personality. 

a. Wealth makes possible the greater development of per- 
sonality through cultural advantages ; but it often leads 
to idleness and dissipation and is a barrier to the growth 
of personality. Upon the whole would you say it 
helped or hindered the growth of the personality of 
those who possess it? 

b. What warnings are found in the life of Jesus regarding 
the effects of riches? What do you think of the per- 
tinence of these warnings today? 

Effect upon Production. 

a. It is claimed that great fortunes make possible a reserve 
without which industrial expansion would be impossible. 
Are great fortunes essential to industrial growth, or 
would cooperation between a large group of smaller 
holders be equally or more productive? What is the 
basis for your opinion? 

b. What are the dangers industrially of concentration of 
wealth ? 

c. If great fortunes are essential to production but the 
concentration of Vv^ealth hurts human relations and the 
growth of personality, w^ould you or would you not be 
willing to sacrifice production in the interest of human 
relations ? 

Bearing upon Philanthropy. 

a. Hospitals, libraries, and other public institutions are de- 
pendent largely upon the philanthropy of great fortunes. 
Would these institutions suffer if dependent upon smaller 
gifts from the general public? 

b. What is the public attitude toward philanthropies sup- 
ported by great fortunes? Is this attitude justifiable? 

c. Which is the best for all concerned — the institutions, the 
public, and the donors — that such institutions should be 
supported by a few large gifts, or by the small gifts of 
the many? Why do you think so? 

Effect upon Progress. 

a. Placing wealth in the hands of the few is claimed to 
make for progress. Which makes for progress the more, 
to get things done well, or to get everybody doing things, 
even if they are not done so well? 
39 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

b. Democracy implies "a chance for every person to be at 
his best and recognition of every person for all he is 
worth." In what regards, if any, does the present dis- 
tribution of financial return deny this principle? 
6. Are Great Fortunes a Social Asset? 



40 



CHAPTER 5 
Are Luxuries Antagonistic to Public Welfare? 

Is luxury a social problem? If so, what shall we do about it? 
Before we can answer these questions intelligently, we must take 
into consideration various standards of living and determine 
whether or not our national income is sufficient to enable the 
entire population to enjoy the higher standards. We should then 
analyze the consequences of luxury. 

HOW MUCH DOES THE FAMILY NEED? 

This is the sort of question which cannot be answered dog- 
matically. It all depends upon the person, his tastes, capacities, 
duties, and environment. There are, however, certain minimum 
needs which are common to all civilized people. The requirements 
of various families may be roughly classified as subsistence budgets, 
health and decency budgets, comfort budgets, and luxury budgets. 
Let us examine the items included in these various budgets. 

A number of governmental, commercial, and private agencies 
have issued minimum subsistence budgets.^ One of the very 
lowest of these was that prepared by the National Industrial Con- 
ference Board, an organization maintained by a group of manu- 
facturers' associations, for a man, wife, and three children under 
fourteen years of age, in Fall River, Mass., in October, 1919. 
The figure named for this annual budget was $1,267.76. Reduced 
to the cost-of-living level at the beginning of 1922 this budget 
amounts to $1,167.46, or $22.45 per week. This budget allows 
$2.81 per week, or $12.19 per month, for rent. The amount for 
fuel, heat, and light is $1.66 per week. The clothing allowance 
for the entire family is ^3.37 per week, while the amount provided 
for food is $8.80 per week, or ten cents each per meal for father 
and mother and seven cents each for the three children. The 
amount allowed for all other expenses of the family is $5.81 per 



^ Many of these btxdgets have been assembled by the Bureau of Applied 
Economics, of Washington, D. C, in a volume entitled "Standards of 
Living," Bulletin No. 7. 

41 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

week. As one looks closely at these figures he wonders how a 
family can even subsist on this budget. 

For a minimum "health and decency" budget let us examine the 
one prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for 
a family of five at prices prevailing in Washington, D. C, in 
August, 1919, when prices were only slightly higher than at the 
beginning of 1922. The amount of this budget was $2,262.47. 
The various items are: food %772).93; clothing for husband $121.16, 
for wife $166.46, for eleven-year-old boy $96.60, for five-year-old 
girl $82.50, for two-year-old boy $47.00; housing, fuel, and light 
$428 ; miscellaneous $546.82, which includes $70 for upkeep of 
house and furnishings, $104 for laundry, $32.92 cleaning supplies, 
$80 for health, $111.50 for insurance, $45 for carfare, $8.40 for 
newspapers, $20 for amusements, $13 for church, $10 for labor 
organizations, $52 for incidentals. 

A different kind of budget has been prepared by Mr. Edward 
Evans, Secretary of the Social Order Committee of the Phila- 
delphia Yearly Aleeting of Friends.^ The twofold purpose of this 
suggested budget is to give an indication as to the real needs of 
a family for full development, and also to set a limit beyond which 
Christian families should not go without serious examination of 
each contemplated additional expenditure. The suggested items 
are : 

Housing (semi-detached house with reasonable yard) $ 900 

Wages (one maid, with additional service for washing) .... 750 

Fuel and light 250 

Food (including ice) 1,500 

Clothing 500 

Personal equipment (other than clothing) 50 

Household equipment 100 

Telephone 50 

Education (in a good private school) 500 

Doctor, medicines, and nursing 200 

Carfare and travel (other than vacation) 150 

Reading and recreation (other than vacation) 100 

Vacation (one month at seashore or mountains) 200 

Insurance (life insurance not included) 75 

Inexpensive automobile (original cost included and appor- 
tioned over life of car) 300 

Total $5,625 

1 Published in The World Tomorrow, Nov., 1921. 

42 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC? 

IS THERE ENOUGH TO GO AROUND? 

A clear case can be made out that any family could find legiti- 
mate use for an income of at least $5,000 per year. Indeed, it is 
probably true to say that $10,000 per year could be used wisely 
and without waste by an intelligent family. The question naturally 
arises whether our national income is sufficient to provide either 
of these sums for every family. 

A recent important volume, "The Income in the United States," 
by the staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an 
extraordinarily able and impartial group of statisticians, enables 
us to answer this question with a considerate degree of accuracy. 
According to this report the total national income in 1918 was 
about sixty-one billion dollars. This amount is not all available 
for personal use. Approximately ten per cent goes normally for 
the expenses of government. i An additional ten per cent should 
be reserved for expansion and development of new industries. 
This leaves less than forty-nine billions for personal expenditures. 
If this forty-nine billion dollars should be divided equally among 
the approximately twentj^-one million families in the United States 
each family would receive about $2,330. These figures show 
the utter inadequacy of our present national income to provide 
$5,000 per year for every family. 

As a matter of fact, the number of persons receiving an income 
as high as $5,000 during 1918 was only 842,458, or less than three 
per cent of the total number of income receivers. ^ The number of 
■persons who received as much as $2,000 for 1918 was only 5,290,- 
649, or fourteen per cent of the total number. The startling fact 
is that the total number of persons receiving less than $1,500 
during that year was 27,056,344, or seventy-two per cent of the 
total number; while the number receiving less than $1,000 for the 
year was 14,558,224, or thirty-eight per cent of the total number. 
By way of summary, let us tabulate these figures : 



^ In 1920 the total cost of government in the United States — federal, 
state, and municipal — was approximately nine billion dollars, or about 
thirteen per cent of the national income. The expenses for 1920, however, 
were abnormal on account of a continuation of war expenses. 

^ "The Income in the United States," p. 136. 



43 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 
Incomes in the United States in 1918^ 







Per cent of 


Amount 


Number of persons 


total number 


$5,000 or above 


842,458 


3 


$2,000 or above 


5,290,649 


14 


Less than $1,500 


27,056,344 


72 


Less than $1,000 


14,558,224 


38 



The fact remains, therefore, that although a comfortable income 
of $5,000 might be desirable for every family, it can be secured 
now only at the expense of other families. 



WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF LUXURY? 

In view of the present inadequacy of the national income to 
make it possible for every family to maintain a comfortable 
standard of Hving, it naturally follows that excessive luxuries can 
be enjoyed by the few only as others are deprived of necessities. 
The consumption of expensive luxuries has three notable effects : 
(1) it diverts human labor from tasks which are socially more 
productive; (2) it diverts capital from more beneficial uses; (3) 
it wastes raw materials which might be used to better advantage. 
Let us notice these consequences a little more closely. 

(1) Luxuries divert human labor into less useful channels. 
This is true in spite of the widespread belief that the production 
of luxuries "makes work.". Let us consider the concrete case 
of a rich man who builds a country estate at a cost of $5,000,-' 
000. Included in the items of expense are a large mansion, 
sunken gardens, golf links, polo field, and a large artificial lake. 
Around the whole estate is placed an elaborate iron fence. The 
completion of the job kept hundreds of workers occupied for a 
year. After the millions have been expended and the country home 
is ready, it is used for a few weeks out of the year by the owner 
and a few rich friends. The public is rigorously excluded. 
During most of the year the place is closed and deserted save by 
the caretakers and servants. Has the expenditure of these five 
millions "made work" and proved to be a blessing to the workers, 
or has it diverted human labor into wasteful channels? 

But we are told that many workers are constantly out of a job 
and in such cases luxury production is a godsend. That raises the 



'The Income in the United States," p. 136. 

44 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC? 

question : Why are industrious and capable workers unable to find 
employment that is socially productive? To answer this question 
we must consider the second and third consequences of luxury 
production. 

(2) Luxuries tie up capital which might otherwise be used in 
the production of the necessities of life. Here again we run into 
a popular fallacy. It is generally supposed that luxury spending 
is a good thing for a community, since "it puts money into circu- 
lation." Consider again the case o-f the $5,000,000 estate. The 
money was certainly put into circulation. And yet a large part 
of the cost of the estate is social waste. The same $5,000,000 and 
the immense amount of human labor might have gone into the 
erection of sorely needed homes for hundreds of families. And 
that leads to the third consequence of luxury production. 

(3) Luxuries consume raw materials which might have been 
used more profitably. To continue the foregoing illustrations : not 
only the invested capital and the human labor, but also the raw 
material used in the erection of the country mansion might have 
been used in the building of homes for many needy families. 
Why are industrious and capable workers unable to find employ- 
ment that is socially productive? One of the important reasons 
is because of the high price of capital and raw material, and this 
is due in part to luxury production. The supply of capital and 
raw materials in any country and at any one time is strictly 
limited. If a considerable portion is diverted to the production 
of luxuries just to that extent capital is scarce and raw materials 
are expensive for use in production which is socially valuable. 

That which is true in the case of a $5,000,000 country estate is 
true of luxury spending in general. Money spent on luxuries 
which are of little or no social value, increases the cost of the 
necessities by needlessly consuming human labor, capital, and raw 
materials. 

"The man who spends money in employing laborers on things 
that are really useless," says ex-President Hadley of Yale, "causes 
food to be consumed by a group of workers who leave nothing 
permanent to show for it, and lessens the amount of useful things 
which the consumer can enjoy in the immediate future. He usually 
does more harm than the man who saves money and hoards it ; 
for while hoarding chiefly affects nominal wages, unwise expendi- 
ture affects real wages. 

In this connection Mr. Hartley Withers, a leading English 
economist, says : "Since the producing power of mankind is 

45 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

limited, every superfluous and useless article that they buy, every 
extravagance that they commit, prevents the production of the 
necessaries of life for those who are at present in need of them. 
.... Since the output of goods and services at any moment is 
limited by the amount of labor, capital, and raw material that is 
to be had, and since we have seen that most goods and nearly all 
services are more or less quickly consumed, it follows that the 
divisible wealth of the world is like a great heap, the size of 
which cannot be enlarged, at will, though the articles of which it 

is composed may vary In other words, every purchase of an 

article of luxury stiffens the price of articles of necessity, and 
makes tJie struggle of the poor still harder/'^ 

(4) The extent of expenditures for luxuries. To realize how 
serious is the problem of luxuries, we must get the facts as to its 
extent. A first step will be to see how many persons have the 
financial capacity for excessive luxuries. The following table 
shows the number of large incomes in the United States during 
1918: 

Large Incomes in the United States in 1918^ 







Amount of 


Income 


Number of persons 


income 


$1,000,000 and above 


152 


$ 316,319,219 


$500,000 to $1,000,000 


369 


220,120,399 


$200,000 to $500,000 


1,976 


570,019,200 


$100,000 to $200,000 


4,945 


671,565,821 


$50,000 to $100,000 


14,011 


951,529,576 


$25,000 to $50,000 


41,119 


1,398,785,687 


$10,000 to $25,000 


192,062 


2,808,290,063 


Totals 


254,634 


$6,936,629,965 



The fact that these 254,000 persons with an income above $10,000 
received a total income in 1918 of nearly seven billion dollars, 
gives an idea of the possibility of luxury spending. And, of 
course, luxury spending is not confined to the $10,000 class and 
above. The number of persons who received an income between 
$3,000 and $10,000 was 1,970,991, with a total income of nine 



Hartley Withers, "Poverty and Waste," pp. 19, 20, 21. 
"The Income in the United States," p. 136. 

46 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC? 

billions.^ If we allow $3,000 per year for the cost of actual 
necessities and minimum comforts of each of the 2,225,625 families 
represented in the income classes above $3,000, we discover that 
the total amount remaining for luxuries and savings is more 
than nine billions. If we add to this the amount spent for luxuries 
by single men who receive less than $3,000 and by families which 
do without necessities and comforts in order to secure luxuries, 
we see that a considerable proportion of our national income is 
available for luxury production. 

There is another angle from which we may gain light as to the 
extent of luxuries, and that is by examining production statistics 
of items classed as luxuries. The Secretary of the Treasury has 
estimated that in 1919 the people of the United States purchased 
luxuries as follows :i 

Joy riding, pleasure resorts, races, etc $ 3,000,000,000 

Luxurious services 3,000,000,000 

Excessively high-priced wearing apparel, 

carpets, and rugs 1,500,000,000 

Cigars, cigarettes, tobacco, snuff 2,110,000,000 

Perfumery, face powder, cosmetics 750,000,000 

Soft drinks 350,000,000 

Candy 1,000,000,000 

Chewing gum 50,000,000 

Jewelry 500,000,000 



$12,260,000,000 



With regard to the amount spent for pleasure automobiles — 
apart for expenditures for commercial automobiles — a leading 
engineer says,^ "I have no doubt that automobiling as a luxury 
was costing the American people at the rate of upward of $3,000,- 
000,000 per annum in 1919." It has been estimated that there are 
6,000 women in New York who spend each year as much as 
$6,000 on their bodily garments. A visit to the exclusive establish- 
ments on Fifth Avenue makes it easy to believe that this estimate 
is not an exaggeration. A stroll along Fifth Avenue or Broadway 



'^Literary Digest, July 10, 1920, p. 122. In his report the Secretary of 
the Treasury included many items not listed above, since they are not 
usually classed as luxuries. His total was twenty-two billion dollars. 

2 W. R. Ingalls, "Wealth and Income of the American People," p. 217. 

47 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

near Times Square enables one to see numerous show-windows 
in which single articles of jewelry valued at from $1,000 to 
$10,000 are displayed. 

Among the excessive amounts spent for luxuries in recent 
years are the following : $7,000,000 for a mansion with 121 rooms 
for one family; $300,000 for a pipe organ; $50,000 for a piano; 
$10,000 for a cradle; $38,000 for a washstand; $65,000 for a 
dressing table ; $20,000 for a hat ; $1,000 for a hatpin ; $75,000 for 
opera glasses; $280,000 for a string of pearls; $600,000 for a 
diamond necklace; $14,000 for an automobile "with an interior 
inlaid with silver in quartered mahogany and upholstered in fawn 
suede and morocco" ; $30,000 for a still more elaborate automobile. 

(5) Summary of consequences. The economic effects of exces- 
sive luxury production undoubtedly are : the diverting of human 
labor, capital, and raw material from production which would be 
socially more valuable. Luxuries are in part responsible for high 
prices of necessities, and high prices are responsible for enforced 
unemployment. 

Some years ago at a fashionable party the host distributed 
cigarettes rolled in hundred-dollar bills. An outcry was raised 
against such waste. As a matter of fact, however, the burning of 
hundred-dollar bills is socially less wasteful than most forms of 
luxury spending. Hundred-dollar bills are only "wealth tokens" 
and are easily replaced, whereas most luxuries represent the waste 
of real wealth upon which human labor, capital, and raw materials 
have been expended. 

There are other consequences of luxury spending than those of 
an economic nature. The effects of luxuries upon the personal 
habits and characters of those who indulge must be considered. 
Even more serious are the effects upon human relations. • Between 
those who enjoy excessive luxuries and those who have at best 
only the bare necessities of life, a great gulf is fixed. It is idle 
to talk of overcoming class feelings— suspicion, bitterness, and 
enmity — so long as this gulf exists. The workers will never 
render their most efficient service so long as they feel that the 
proceeds of industry are being used to provide excessive luxuries 
for employers and stockholders. It is unquestionably true that 
much of the "slacking" and loafing on the job is due to the 
refusal of the workers to exert themselves unnecessarily in order 
to pile up luxuries for the "bosses." So long as there is as much 
basis for this belief as at the present time, it seems futile to 
expect efficient production or harmonious relations in industry. 

48 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC f 

HOW DETERMINE AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION 
OF LUXURIES? 

In view of the definite limits to production at the present time, 
four possibihties are open to society: (1) to increase production 
to the point where there will be enough luxuries for everybody; 
(2) to cease entirely all luxury production; (3) to provide 
luxuries for a small class of rich people; (4) to bring about a 
more equitable distribution by limiting the luxury expenditures 
of the rich. 

The first proposal will be treated elsewhere in this study. Just 
here let us say that while increased production is possible and will 
probably be realized it does not seem likely that for several 
generations the increase will be sufficient to insure luxuries for 
all. It will require a considerable degree of increased production 
to provide even the bare necessities and minimum comforts for 
the huge proportion of people who now lack these essentials. 

With regard to the second suggestion, it would seem to be 
socially undesirable to eliminate all luxuries, even if this were 
possible. There seems to be no solution in this direction. 

The third possibility, providing luxuries for a few rich people, 
is the practice followed throughout history, and is the one most 
widely accepted today in comfortable circles. It is contended that 
if there are not enough luxuries to go around, surely the available 
supply should go to the more successful group in society. Only 
those should have luxuries who "can afford them." It is pointed 
out that most of the great achievements of mankind come from 
this upper class. 

Ancient Greece is cited as a conspicuous illustration of the value 
of a cultured upper class. One authority goes so far as to say 
that he would rather have spent ten years in Athens in the days 
of Pericles than to live a hundred years in modern mediocrity. 
One cannot refrain, however, from asking the human cost of 
maintaining an upper class in leisure and luxury while the Par- 
thenon and other glories of Athens were being produced. The 
records show that there were about as many slaves as there were 
free people, while the number of citizens was very much smaller. 

Today the possessions and luxuries of the rich are counted 
among the chief glories of America. Again we are concerned as 
to the human cost and as to the ratio of rich and poor. The figures 

49 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

are available.^ For every income above $25,000 there are 580 
below $5,000; for every income above $100,000 there are 4,700 
below $3,000; for every income above $1,000,000 there are 177,000 
below $1,500 per year. 

The final possibility is limiting the luxury expenditures of the 
rich. Does the existing inequality of distribution represent the 
actual difference in ability, perseverance, and thrift? Is the inter- 
est of the whole people best served by concentrating great wealth 
in the hands of a few? 

The follower of Jesus will turn again to the record for light. 
What does Jesus say about luxuries? One of the effective ways 
of teaching is by action. In this connection the example of Jesus 
is significant. He did not live a life of ease and luxury. Quite 
the reverse. His chief concern was not for His own comfort, but 
rather for the welfare of others. On one occasion He reminded 
His hearers that He "came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." He also said, 
"For their sake I consecrate myself." 

Jesus issued a stirring challenge to His hearers to live this 
same kind of life; "If any man would come after me, let him 
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Love is to be 
dominant in human relations. The second great commandment is : 
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." In the parable of the 
Good Samaritan one's neighbor is defined as any person who is 
in need. On another occasion Jesus said : "A new commandment 
I give unto you, that ye love one another ; even as I have loved 
you, that ye love one another. By this shall all men know that 
ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." 

The apostle Paul expressed the same idea in these words : "Now 
we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and 
not to please ourselves." And again : "Bear ye one another's 
burden, and so fulfil the law of Christ." 

In the parable of the Last Judgment we see pictured the doom 
of those who neglect the needy : "For I was hungry, and ye did 
not give me to eat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink ; I 
was a stranger and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me 
not ; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." 

Jesus uttered many warnings against easy living and neglect 
of those in need : "But take heed to yourselves in case your 
hearts get overpowered by dissipation and drunkenness and world 



^ "The Income in the United States," p. 136. 

SO 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC? 

anxieties." The apostle Paul expressed his attitude toward the 
habits of life that cause others to stumble in these words: "If 
meat causeth my brother to stumble (referring to the controversy- 
concerning the eating of meat which had been offered to idols), 
I will eat no flesh for evermore, that I cause not my brother to 
stumble." 

In the Epistle of James we are reminded that love for the needy 
must express itself in deeds : "Suppose some brother or sister is 
ill-clad and short of daily food ; if any of you says to them, 
'Depart in peace ! Get warm, get food,' without supplying their 
bodily needs, what use is that?" 

In the light of the very clear teaching of Jesus and His disciples, 
should a Christian live in ease and luxury? Can there be real 
brotherhood between those who dwell in mansions and those who 
are housed in slums? Does a Christian love his brother as him- 
self when he lives in luxury from rents and dividends, while others 
through toil are unable to rise above need and squalor? 

The situation is yet more compelling. Upon the follower of 
Jesus rests responsibility for the world-wide expansion of the 
Kingdom of our Lord. The Christian in America cannot evade 
responsibility for proclaiming the message of abundant life in 
the Orient, the Dark Continent, and the islands of the sea. Men 
and women are needed everywhere. And so is money. The 
expenditure of even a few dollars in the more destitute places of 
the earth will actually save human lives — each of which is of 
infinite worth in the sight of God. In other spots, dollars mean 
doctors, teachers, preachers — the passage from physical infirmity, 
mental blindness, and spiritual darkness into health, knowledge, 
and a more abundant life. With the world in physical hunger and 
spiritual destitution, with the tragic need for men and money every- 
where, is it not supreme disloyalty to Jesus and an absolute denial 
of His Way of Life for a Christian to live in ease and luxury? 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. The following is a budget estimate of what is essential to 
complete living: (See page 42.) 

Housing (semi-detached house with reasonable yard) .... $ 900 

Wages (one maid, with additional service for washing) . . 750 

Fuel and light 250 

Food (including ice) 1,500 

51 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Clothing 500 

Personal equipment (other than clothing) 50 

Household equipment 100 

Telephone 50 

Education (in a good private school) 500 

Doctor, medicines, and nursing 200 

Carfare and travel (other than vacation) 150 

Reading and recreation (other than vacation) 100 

Vacation (one month at seashore or mountains) 200 

Insurance (life insurance not included) 75 

Inexpensive automobile (original cost included and appor- 
tioned over life of car) 300 

Total ■ $5,625 

(a) Which of these items would you question as not being 
essential to maximum efficiency? Which as not being essential to 
complete and v^^holesome living? 

(b) What budget items w^ould you add, if any, as being essen- 
tial to maximum efficiency? As essential to complete and whole- 
some living? 

(c) Which, if any, of the above items would you call luxuries? 
Why? 

2. At which of the following levels do you think it would be 
most desirable for a family with three children to live : 

(Put on blackboard.) 

g. Extravagance $30,000 per year 

f. Luxury 15,000 per year 

e. Plenty 8,000 per year 

d. Enough for complete living 5,600 per year 

c. Reasonable comforts 3,500 per year 

b. Health and decency 2,200 per year 

a. Fair standard 1,700 per year 

(There will probably be discussion as to^whether the estimated 
amounts are accurate. Let there be discussion on that and change 
amounts where there seems basis for same and a majority senti- 
ment.) 

3. Which, if any, of the levels of living are inconsistent for a 
Christian ? 

52 



ARE LUXURIES ANTAGONISTIC? 

4. Which of the following would you call luxuries and which 
essential to a wholesome and efficient life? 

Piano. 

Radio. 

Ford. 

Vacuum cleaner. 

Electric washing machine. 

Magazines. 

Books. 

Entertainments. 

5. What do you mean by luxuries? 

6. What makes the difference of opinion as to what are luxuries 
and what are necessities? 

7. The data seem to indicate that the production of luxuries is 
one of the causes of the high prices of ordinary comforts of life 
due to the diversion of labor, capital and raw materials. If there 
were fewer luxuries produced would folks be better off? Why 
do you think so? 

8. W^hat are the effects of luxuries? Upon the whole are they 
antagonistic to the public good? At what point do a person's 
expenditures become antagonistic to the public good? 

9. When there is not enough to go around, is a person justified 
in taking all he needs? If not, why not? If so, under what 
conditions ? 

10. What degree of luxury production is justifiable? 

11. How would you determine the equitable distribution of 
luxuries ? 



53 



CHAPTER 6 

Does Modern Industry Help or Hinder the 
Full Development of Human Beings? 

Is the modern economic system more favorable to the full 
development of human beings than any preceding system? What 
are the benefits of modern industry? What are its human costs? 
In what respects is it in accord with the ethical principles of 
Jesus? Wherein does it violate His teaching? 

THE BENEFITS OF MODERN INDUSTRY 

1. Increased Production. The quantity of goods and services 
possessed by the American people today has never been equaled 
by any great nation in human history. For this condition the 
extraordinary natural resources of the country are in large part 
responsible. These natural resources, however, could not have 
been so highly developed without the aid of modern machines and 
industrial organization. The productive power of human labor 
has been enormously increased during the past century. 

As late as 1830 small grain was sown broadcast, reaped with a 
cradle, and threshed with a flail or trodden out by horses and oxen. 
Hay was mown with a scythe, and raked and pitched by hand. 
Corn was planted and covered by hand, and cultivated mainly with 
a hoe. The United States Department of Agriculture has esti- 
mated that the amount of human labor required to produce a 
bushel of wheat was on the average only ten minutes in 1896, as 
compared with three hours and thirty minutes in 1830. 

In the making of clothes there has also been a tremendous- ad- 
vance. Early in the nineteenth century a woman could spin twelve 
skeins of thread in ten hours, producing a thread a little more 
than ten miles in length. Now she can attend to 600 or 800 
spindles, each of which spins 5,000 yards per day, or with 800 
spindles, 4,000,000 yards, or nearly 21,000 miles of thread a day. 

54 



DOES MODERN INDUSTRY HELP OR HINDER? 

Formerly a woman could knit a pair of stockings per day ; now a 
boy can attend to twelve machines which will knit a complete 
800 pairs per day. A modern cotton- spinning machine tended by 
one man and two boys, can do as much work as 4,000 spinners 
could do in 1750. "The spindles of Lancashire today produce as 
much as would have required the services of 200 million men 
unaided by machiner3^" "Before Whitney's invention it is said 
that the labor of one person was required for about ten hours to 
pick the seeds from one and a half pounds of cotton lint; at the 
present time one machine will gin from 1,500 to 7,500 pounds of 
lint in the same time." 

It is true, of course, that we must take into account the labor 
expended in the making of these machines. But after due allow- 
ance has been made, the fact still remains that modern machinery 
has enormously increased production, with the consequence that 
the people of the United States have now attained a material 
standard of life which has never been equaled by the mass of 
people in any previous age. While the quantity of necessities and 
comforts is still inadequate to provide for the real needs of all 
the people, it is probably true that the proportion of people in 
the United States today who are in physical need is less than in 
any great nation in history, 

2. Saving of Human Energy. Modern machines perform 
many laborious tasks that were formerly done by human muscles. 
The amount of human energy saved by modern machines is 
astounding. At the Waterside Station of the New York Edison 
Company is a single-unit turbine, fifty-seven feet long, twenty feet 
wide, and fourteen feet high, weighing 975,000 pounds, which de- 
velops 40,000 horse-power. The significance of this turbine as 
a labor-saving device will be emphasized if we recall that "a 
muscular man usually develops one-tenth of a horse-power, but 
cannot keep this up all day," which means that one turbine pro- 
duces energy equal to that of 400,000 husky workmen. 

Throughout the Orient and in other parts of the world, vessels 
are still loaded with coal by swarms of coolies with their buckets. 
Recently a locomotive crane has been introduced which enables one 
man with clam-shell buckets to handle coal at the rate of sixty 
or seventy tons per hour. Recent developments have made it 
possible to eliminate almost entirely the use of human labor in 
the delivery of coal to the ships and the distribution of it in the 
bunkers. Elevators are now in operation which can deliver from 

55 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

100 to 150 tons of coal per hour direct from the lighter to the 
bunkers. Grain elevators have an average unloading capacity from 
cars of 200,000 bushels per ten-hour day, an unloading capacity 
from river barges of 60,000 bushels per hour. A little while ago 
a pair of cargo-handHng cranes unloaded 2,103 barrels of asphalt 
in eight and one-hal-f hours. Recently a new 250-ton electric 
crane lifted a complete locomotive of the Mallett type, weighing 
232 tons, and shunted it back and forth over the floor of the shop 
as though it were a toy. The crane held the huge locomotive 
suspended for over two hours, and finally set it back upon the 
tracks again. One electric magnet handled 141,200 pounds of 
foundry iron in forty-five minutes. Eight automatic ore unloaders 
recently unloaded seven boats having a total capacity of 70,000 
tons in twenty-two hours. A machine has been developed for 
tiering piles of sugar bags to a height of twenty-five feet, at the 
rate of 500 to 600 bags per hour, using six men as against the 
thirty men formerly required to do the same work. Two gigantic 
circular saws have recently been installed in a western shingle 
factory, each of which is nine feet in diameter, weighing 755 
pounds, and traveling at the rate of 130 miles per hour, having 
a capacity that is almost incredible. The modern steam shovel 
operated by one man will do more work in one day than sixty men 
with pick and shovel do in the same time. 

A bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution contains this startling 
information : "To accomplish the work done annually in the United 
States, or at least the equivalent in such kind as men could per- 
form, would require the labor of three billion hard-working slaves. 
The use of power gives to each man, woman, and child in this 
country the service equivalent to fifty servants." 

According to Dr. Thomas T. Reed, of the United States Bureau 
of Mines, no other country has one-fiftieth part of the total energy 
resources of the United States. 

3. Saving of Time. Modern industry makes possible a greater 
amount of leisure time. Leisure was formerly secured only at the 
expense of slave labor. The person who has to depend upon his 
own energy for the support of himself and his family found most 
of his time consumed in the bare struggle for existence. With 
the aid of modern machines, men now accomplish in a few hours 
what formerly required days and consequently have greater oppor- 
tunities for leisure. 

Not only so, improved transportation facilities enable the man 

56 



DOES MODERN INDUSTRY HEEP OR HINDER? 

of today to move about with a speed which would have seemed 
incredible to his grandfather. Twenty miles a day used to be the 
average for the traveler. The late William E. Dodge told a 
friend that his grandfather, a resident of New York City, once 
requested the prayers of his church as he was about to undertake 
"the long and perilous journey to Rochester." Modern steamships, 
express trains, and aeroplanes have revolutionized transportation. 
Modern machines and industrial organization, by enormously 
increasing production, lifting heavy burdens from human shoulders, 
and the saving of time, have made possible a richer and fuller life 
for the whole people than was ever true before. A broader base 
has been laid upon which the "good life" may be built. 

HUMAN COSTS OF MODERN INDUSTRY 

1. Health and Safety. Over against the enormous benefits 
of modern industry are a number of excessive human costs. The 
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics recently issued a com- 
pendium of industrial hazards. Four classes of dangers were 
listed, (a) Dust, causing inflammatory conditions of the eye, ear, 
nose, and throat, ulceration, and tuberculosis ; especially serious 
in the following industries — marble and stone, mining, textile, 
grinding, polishing, glass, pottery, and chemical industries, (b) 
Heat, including cold and variations in temperature, causing 
anemia, general debility, catarrh, rheumatism, cancer, and prema- 
ture old age ; especially serious in iron and steel mills, glass fac- 
tories, laundries, bakeries, ice manufactories, kitchens, and engine 
rooms, (c) Humidity, including moisture and dampness, causing 
diseases of the respiratory passages, neuralgic and rheumatic 
affections ; especially serious in paper mills, tanneries, sugar re- 
fineries, canneries, steam vulcanizing, paint manufacturing. (d) 
Poisons, twenty- four industrial poisons are listed, including ammo- 
nia, arsenic, chlorine gas, lead, mercury, nitrous gases, phosphorus, 
sulphur. A list of more than 500 hazardous occupations has been 
prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

A few years ago Dr. F. L. Hoffman, an insurance statistician, 
estimated that at least 5,600,000 persons worked under conditions 
which were "detrimental to health and life on account of atmos- 
pheric pollution, or the relatively excessive presence of atmospheric 
impurities predisposing to or accelerating the relative frequency 
of tubercular and respiratory diseases." 

The American Red Cross has estimated that industrial acci- 

57 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

dents cause the deaths of more than 22,000 persons annually in the 
United States. The number of disabilities resulting from indus- 
trial accidents was estimated at 3,400,000, a total of 680,000 workers 
were incapacitated for at least four weeks.^ 

The extreme specialization of modern industry presents a grave 
menace to the workers. In many industries today there is a high 
degree of monotony. Thousands of workers perform the same 
small movement countless times a day. An observer tells of a 
woman whose only task is to take a half-formed hinge and place 
it in the bending machine fifty times a minute, or 30,000 times a 
day ; another worker cuts out tin can tops by pressing a foot-lever 
forty times a minute; a garment worker watches twelve jumping 
needles of a power machine. A social worker tells of a white- 
haired man whose task is to watch for dents in tin cans as they 
pass in an endless procession. At long intervals he uses one hand 
to remove a can that is dented. All day long he scarcely takes 
his eyes off the stream of tin cans. During his thirteen years at 
this job, millions of cans have passed before his eyes. 

Repetition and monotony have disastrous nervous and mental 
consequences. A few years at such a task unfits a person for 
constructive workmanship. Machine-tending jobs are usually 
blind-alley jobs, offering small opportunity for advancement or 
self-improvement. In fact, it has been well said that machine- 
tending "dis-educates" growing minds. 

2. Decreasing Independence o£ the Individual. Enforced 
unemployment is one phase of this tendency. In the days of 
cheap land and hand industry a man was less dependent upon 
others for a job. The volume of enforced unemployment was 
light. Today the jobs of millions of workers depend upon con- 
ditions over which the individual has absolutely no control. 
Modern industry has concentrated the means of production in 
huge factories, with the consequence that an increasing number 
of workers do not own their tools. Cheap land is no longer avail- 
able. /^Modern industrial workers are therefore absolutely de- 
pendent'ilpbn their jobs for a livelihood. And over their jobs they 
have little or no control. One of the staggering human costs of 
modern industry is the insecurity of the workers. Tens of thou- 
sands of able-bodied men are constantly seeking in vain for em- 
ployment.; A careful estimate of the volume of unemployment in 



^ W. I.. Chenery, "Indtistry and Human Welfare," pp. 138, 139. 

58 



DOES MODERN INDUSTRY HELP OR HINDER? 

the United States between 1902 and 1917 places the number of 
unemployed at from one million to six millions, the average num- 
ber being two and a half million workers. During 1921 and the 
early months of 1922 the number of unemployed was estimated at 
from three to five million workers. The Engineers Committee on 
the Elimination of Waste, appointed by Mr. Herbert Hoover, found 
that: 

"The clothing worker is idle about thirty-one per cent of the 
year ; the average shoe-maker spends only sixty-five per cent of 
his time at work; the building-trade workman is employed only 
about 190 days in the year or approximately sixty-three per cent 
of his time; the textile industry seemingly has regular intervals 
of slack time ; during the past thirty years bituminous-coal miners 
were idle an average of ninety-three possible working days per 
year." 

Another phase of the increasing helplessness of the individual is 
found in the concentration of ownership and control of industry. 
There was a time when business men were not greatly unequal in 
power and when employers and workers were separated by only 
a narrow margin of power. That day has gone. Individual busi- 
ness men are finding it increasingly difficult to carry on success- 
fully. The corporation is rapidly displacing the individual owner. 
Chain stores are driving many small stores out of business. Huge 
corporations are making successful operation more and more diffi- 
cult for small corporations. The control of many large industries 
is increasingly falling into the hands of banking syndicates. The 
Federal Commission on Industrial Relations found that : "A care- 
ful and conservative study shows that the corporations controlled 
by six financial groups and affiliated interests employ 2,651,684 
wage earners and have a total capitalization of $19,875,200,000. 
These six financial groups control twenty-eight per cent of the 
total number of wage earners engaged in the industries covered 
by the report of our investigation. The Morgan-First National 
Bank group alone controls corporations employing 785,499 wage 
earners."! 

In mediaeval and ancient times men sought power and wealth, 
not only through commercial channels, but through social and 
political avenues. The result was feudalism and the divine right 
of kings. The rise of the democratic spirit is slowly but surely 
destroying that power. The development of modern industry has, 



Senate Document No. 415, p. 80. 

59 



CHRISTIANITY, AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

however, brought about a concentration of wealth and control 
which enables a few men to exercise power and influence com- 
parable to that of mediaeval monarchs. 

< If^the individual business man is finding himself increasingly 
helpless in the face of the enormous concentration of wealth and 
power, how much the more so is this true of the industrial worker. 
What chance has he to affect the wage schedule of a billion dollar 
corporation or in any way to change the policies determined upon 
by a ten-billion-dollar syndicate of ba nker s^. 

The situation is made even more difficult for the individual by 
reason of the existence of class codes of conduct. The individual 
worker who goes contrary to the decision of organized labor is 
known as a "scab" and loses caste with many of his fellow 
workers. The individual business man who goes contrary to the 
decision of the Chamber of Commerce, Bankers' Association, or 
noon luncheon club becomes an object of suspicion and often 
loses social standing. Not infrequently pressure is brought to 
bear upon him to induce him to rernain loyal to the group decision. 
Such pressure is not uncommon in connection with strikes and 
the open-shop drive. 

It was formerly true that an individual business man or worker 
could be his own boss and do much as he pleased. Not so today. 
The individual employer or worker finds it increasingly difficult 
to say : 

'T am the master of my fate : 
I am the captain of my soul." 

This is true of the modern worker or business man only as he com- 
bines with his fellows. (Only the few individuals who control 
huge corporations are now really masters of their own financial 
fate. 

3. Antagonism in Human Relations. The intensification of 
competition and the commercial struggle against one's neighbor 
must be counted as one of the human costs of modern industry. 
From its beginning modern industry has rested upon the doctrine 
of free competition and laissez fairc — the public good will best be 
served by each person seeking his own good, with the minimum of 
state interference. This belief has been almost universal in 
America. This policy has been dominant throughout the history 
of the United States. Undoubtedly it has developed a hardi- 
ness of character and a degree of self-reliance which has had 

60 



DOES MODERN INDUSTRY HELP OR HINDER? 

a large share in the success of American industry. It should 
never be forgotten, however, that this is a policy of warfare ; each 
man for himself and the hand of every man raised against his 
fellows. The size of material rewards has been determined by the 
degree of victory in vanquishing one's competitors. 

So long as cheap land and undeveloped resources were available 
this policy of each man seeking his own good was less detrimental 
to social welfare. With the growth of population, the passing of 
cheap land, the monopolization of natural resources, and the con- 
centration of control of industry, this policy is highly dangerous. 
Unless we find another basis than the seeking of his own good 
by each individual we cannot avoid an intensified warfare between 
groups of business men and between employers and workers. It 
is difficult to see how the doctrine of laisses faire can possibly 
promote harmonious relations in modern industry. 

Public welfare is further threatened by reason of the fact that 
the modern industrial struggle is a fruitful source of wars between 
nations. Modern inventions have made the whole world a neigh- 
borhood. Commercial competition between business men in various 
nations is increasingly keen. The scramble for the raw materials 
and markets of the world grows more intense. "The war after 
the war" is now in progress and is certainly leading on to wars 
between nations, unless a halt is called to the struggle of each man 
after his own good and each nation after its own welfare. 

4. Moral and Spiritual Losses. The strife which is inherent 
in a system based upon self-seeking has played havoc with human 
brotherhood. Modern industry is anything but a brotherhood. 
A dual code of ethics has grown up. Jesus' principle of brother- 
hood is still widely accepted as a theory, as an ideal to be realized 
in the Utopian future. But to base business policies upon the 
gospel of brotherhood is usually considered utterly impracticable. 
"Business is business," we are told, and cannot be conducted along 
sentimental lines. 

The dominant motive of modern business men is the making of 
profits. By this standard success is measured. The two things 
most eagerly sought after in modern commercial life are material 
possessions and personal power — the desire for luxuries and the 
craving for mastery. It is recognized, of course, that there are 
many exceptions to the general rule and that many business men 
are not dominated by the desire for profits or selfish power. But 
if modern business is considered as a whole, is it not true that 

61 . 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

these two incentives far outweigh all others combined? If this is 
the case, is not modern business based upon motives which are in 
fundamental contradiction to the spirit and teaching of Jesus? 
For the true follower of Jesus the serving of others is far more 
important than the securing of material luxuries and personal 
power. The desire to live luxuriously in a poor world and to 
"lord it over" others are not Christian virtues. 

One of the moral costs of modern business is the almost univer- 
sally accepted theory that business men cannot be expected to 
render their best service unless granted unlimited financial rewards. 
Any talk of limiting huge fortunes always brings the retort that 
to do so would "kill initiative" and decrease the energies of busi- 
ness men. A sharp line is drawn between business men and 
teachers, doctors, soldiers, scientists, and preachers. Men in these 
latter professions are expected to render their best service for 
their fellows without regard to remuneration received. It would 
never occur to anyone to suggest that a reputable surgeon would 
vary his skill in an operation in accordance with the size of his 
fee. It would be regarded as an insult to say that a preacher 
would display more Christian zeal for five thousand dollars a year 
than he would for half that salary. And yet over and over again 
we hear it said that business men cannot be expected to do their 
best work without the possibility of unlimited material rewards. 
In other words, a dual standard has been erected, one for business 
men and another for Christian preachers, teachers, doctors, and 
other servants of society. Is not this lack of faith in business men 
and the failure to expect them to respond to the higher motive of 
service for the common good just as readily as other Christian 
men one of the serious losses of the present day? 

One of the very serious costs of modern industry is found in 
its effects upon family life. We have long been taught that human 
progress depends upon a healthy family life. Modern industry 
has done much to shatter the family. The day when the family 
worked at home has passed. The father now works in a distant 
office, factory, or mine. He is away from home from nine to 
thirteen hours per day. An increasing number of mothers are 
being driven into industry by the inadequacy of the father's wage. 
A vast proportion of boys and girls begin work at the age of 
fourteen or fifteen and are away from home all day. In an 
appalling number of instances the members of families do not see 
each other except at night and as they are hastening to work in 
the morning. In a very large number of cases children are left 

62 



DOES MODERN INDUSTRY HELP OR HINDER? 

to roam the streets with no supervision. It is little short of a 
miracle to avoid contracting vicious habits under such circum- 
stances. 

Family life is further threatened by reason of the kind of dv^ell- 
ings in which vast numbers of families now reside. A considerable 
proportion of the working population reside in shanties or slums, 
crowded together in an atmosphere which is wholly unfavorable 
to congenial family life. The high degree of drudgery and 
monotony incident to many industrial occupations, coupled with 
unattractive dwelling places, makes almost inevitable the search 
for excitement and amusement outside the home. It is not an 
exaggeration to say that many families rarely spend an evening 
all together in recreation within the home. 

Behold what modern industry is doing to the family : taking the 
father away for long hours and returning him exhausted, driving 
mothers away from home and leaving children unguarded, sending 
children into distant workshops at the earliest legal age, furnish- 
ing dreary and unattractive places of abode, attempting to satisfy 
the craving for excitement by outside commercial amusements — . 
all these combined present a grave menace to the family. 

Let us now tabulate the facts set forth in this chapter : 

Advantages of Modern Industry Disadvantages of Modern In- 
dustry 

Greatly increased production Accidents and occupational dis- 

Machines have lifted burdens eases 

An enormous saving of time Monotony and fatigue 

Menace to the family 
Decreasing independence 
Antagonistic human relations 
Endangering of brotherhood 
Moral and spiritual losses 

Are we now in a position to strike a balance? Does modern 
industry help or hinder the full development of human beings? 
Do its benefits outweigh its human costs? Upon what groups 
rest chief responsibility for reducing the human costs of modern 
industry ? 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

The following represent pairs of contrasting statements. Choose 
the one in each pair you are willing to defend and indicate why. 
Material will be found in the chapter in defense of each statement. 

62> 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

lA. Modern industry has brought for the first time in human 
history a comfortable life within the range of all. Despite all 
of the things which may be said regarding monotony, fatigue, and 
danger to health, it has, upon the whole, brought greater comfort 
to the worker. 

IB. Modern industry menaces the safety and health of the 
workers. The monotony and fatigue of machine production is 
beyond description. Even though as a result the worker can get 
more goods, he is unfitted for enjoying them. Upon the whole, 
machine production has not brought greater comfort to the worker. 

2A. Under modern industry, heavy loads are lifted from human 
shoulders, and the greatest drudgery is borne by machines. Even 
though it may be monotonous, it is less harmful and makes labor 
more tolerable. 

2B. Under machine production, the worker is depersonalized 
and becomes simply a cog in the machine. The interests and 
welfare of the individual are subordinated to the production of 
goods. Skill in running machines is more easily acquired than skill 
in the old crafts. Consequently workers can be more easily 
replaced. Under these conditions, the worker is more helpless, and 
exploitation of labor, second only to serfdom and slavery, is made 
possible. 

3A. Machine production has greatly reduced the time necessary 
to produce goods, and thus makes possible a shorter working day 
and greater leisure. This makes a man's day, taken as a whole, 
more tolerable than under the old labor conditions. 

3B. Modern industry robs a man of the chance of having fun 
at his job. It has taken away the opportunity for the expression 
of creative instincts and the joy of workmanship. The man who 
works longer and harder, but has fun at his work, is really 
better off. 

4. Upon the whole, does modern industry help or hinder the 
full development of human beings? 



64 



CHAPTER 7 
Why Is There Not Enough to Go Around ? 

It is admitted that modern industry is injurious to the health, 
mentahty, and morals of many workers. But it is often contended 
that this human cost is one of the prices we have to pay for in- 
creased production and a higher standard of life. We are told 
that, after all, it is better for society to have a large quantity of 
goods to distribute, even if this does involve occupational diseases, 
monotony, fatigue, unwholesome living conditions, and deadened 
personalities for many workers. The gains are considered to be 
greater than the losses. It is pointed out that the people of no 
other great nation in history have ever been as well off as are the 
American people today. 

Back of such statements is the assumption that at the present 
time a sufficient quantity of goods is being produced to provide 
plenty for all. This view is widely prevalent. The truth is, 
however, the reverse of this. The present supply of necessities 
and comforts of life is wholly inadequate to supply the real needs 
of all the people. In substantiation of this statement we cited an 
abundance of proof in a former chapter, taken from an analysis of 
our national income and from income-tax returns, wage schedules, 
and charity records. If the total national income, after deductions 
for expenses of government and necessary reserve for expansion 
of industry, should be divided equally the amount available for 
each family would be approximately $2,300. And of course it 
is not divided equally. The heads of half the families in the 
United States have an annual income of less than $1,500. There is 
simply no escaping the fact that at the present time we are not 
producing enough goods to go around. 

Surely we are confronted with an amazing situation. With 
fertile soil, favorable climate, vast natural resources, enormous 
mechanical power, countless inventions and labor saving devices, 
keen business men, highly trained administrators, skilled engineers 
and mechanics, and an abundant supply of manual workers — with 

65 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

all these combined we are not producing enough to go around 
and at least one-third of our people are lacking in the necessities 
and minimum comforts of life. How are we to account for such 
an extraordinary state of affairs? Why is present production 
inadequate ? 

1. Sabotage and Waste. We are not trying very hard to 
produce enough goods to go around. Only a small fraction of the 
workers put their whole energy into their tasks. More or less 
loafing on the job is characteristic of many workers, as is also 
much careless and slipshod work. In addition, there are some 
workers who, for one reason or another, are guilty of deliberate 
waste of materials. The extreme forms of sabotage, however, 
are not common in the United States. 

It ought to be clearly understood that not all sabotage is prac- 
ticed by the workers. The employers also are guilty of deliberate 
restriction of output, and in fact are vastly more successful in this 
regard than are the workers. The quantity of goods produced may 
always be limited by the employers. Few plants or factories pro- 
duce the maximum quantity of goods. An employer sometimes 
buys a new invention, simply to keep it from falling into the hands 
of a competitor, and then fails to use it, since it may be more 
profitable to avoid the expense of the new machinery which it 
would necessitate. Owners have even been known to destroy 
goods in order to keep up prices. 

Another form of social waste is found in the excessive produc- 
tion of luxuries. In a former chapter we treated in some detail 
the extent and consequences of luxury in the United States. There 
is no room for doubt that the annual expenditure of some ten 
billion dollars of our national income for articles classed as 
luxuries is an important cause of the shortage and high prices of 
necessities and minimum comforts. We cannot expend raw ma- 
terials, labor, and capital on luxuries without decreasing the supply 
and increasing the cost of necessities. 

2. Ignorance and Bad Management. Many workers are 
poorly qualified to do efficient work. Notwithstanding the fact 
that as a nation we are among the best educated people in history^ 
there is an alarming degree of illiteracy, ignorance, and low men- 
tality in our midst. In 1917 and 1918 the army intelligence tests 
were given to 1,726,966 men. These tests showed that a con- 
siderable number of these men were of low intelligence. As a 
result of these tests it has been estimated that of our total popula- 

66 



WHY IS THERE NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND? 

tion, twelve per cent are of superior intelligence, sixty-six per cent 
average, and twenty-two per cent inferior. Inefficiency in industry 
is further intensified by reason of the lack of adequate training on 
the part of most workers. 

Ignorance and inefficiency are not confined to the workers. In 
fact, Mr. Herbert Hoover's committee of engineers found that 
"over fifty per cent of the responsibility for these wastes can be 
placed at the door of management and less than twenty-five per 
cent at the door of labor." Among the factors of low production- 
listed by this committee for which the managers are responsible 
are the following : faulty material control, faulty design control, 
faulty production control, lack of cost control, lack of research, 
faulty labor control, failure to provide training facilities, and faulty 
sales policies. There is room for an enormous increase in efficiency 
on the part of workers and managers alike. 

In this connection, Mr, H. L. Gantt, one of the leading pro- 
duction engineers of the United States, said that, in June, 1918, a 
boom period in industry, "only about fifty per cent of our indus- 
trial machines are actually operating during the time they are 
expected to operate ; and on the whole the machines, during the 
time they are being operated, are producing only about fifty per 
cent of what they are expected to produce. This brings our pro- 
duction result down to about one-fourth of what it might be if 
our machines were run all the time at their highest capacity ."^ 
Satisfaction with the superiority of present production over that 
of past ages should not blind us to the fact that there is a very 
wide gulf between actual production and potential production. 

3. Lack of Impelling Motive to Maximum Production. 

Another important factor making for inefficiency of workers is 
the failure of industry to appeal to any other motive than that of 
financial self-interest. Here again we must admit that there are 
exceptions to the rule. But it seems unquestionable that primary 
dependence is placed upon financial rewards to secure the efficiency 
of the workers — higher wages, profit sharing, bonus schemes. 
This plan is obviously failing. One reason is that the average 
worker has little hope of permanently bettering his financial con- 
dition to any considerable extent. There are many exceptions, of 
course ; men who are hopeful and who do break through into the 
ranks of owners and employers. But only an exceedingly small 



^ Quoted in L. D. Edie, "Current Social and Industrial Forces," p. 32. 

67 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

proportion of the total number of workers succeed in doing this. 
The best that the average worker can reasonably hope for is 
barely enough to enable him to support a family in modest com- 
fort. This widespread feeling of helplessness and hopelessness is 
a barrier to the efficiency of the workers. 

Coupled with this is the resentment of most workers at what 
seems to them to be an unjust division of the proceeds of industry. 
There is a widespread tendency among workers to say : Why 
should we work ourselves to death in order to pile up riches for 
the boss? This feeling is intensified by an exaggerated idea on 
the part of the workers as to the wealth of employers and as to 
the financial condition of the companies by which they are em- 
ployed. The fact that they do not have access to the books of the 
employer makes it easy for them to believe exaggerated reports. 

Another cause of inefficiency is found in the fact that thousands 
of workers today are thwarted in their desire to give expression 
to the creative instincts. Modern machine industry dooms most 
workers to a life of repetition and monotony. What opportunity 
for the expression of his creative instincts is given to the worker 
who spends the day watching for dents in an endless stream of 
tin cans, or who pushes a lever forty times a minute, or whose 
only task is screwing nuts on bolts, or doing the "dirty work" in 
any of a score of industries? 

Then, too, no consistent appeal is made to the workers to serve 
the common good by efficient work. No sufficient effort is made 
to show the workers the relation of their tasks to the welfare of 
all the people. The consequence is that the loyalty of the average 
worker is centered upon himself and his family, or at best extends 
no further than, or is transferred to, a class group, such as a trade 
union or a revolutionary group. In the normal human being the 
instinct of self-giving is probably as strong as that of self-gain, 
mutual aid operates as powerfully as antagonism and rivalry. 
And yet modern industry scarcely takes these into account in its 
appeal to the workers. Of course many workers are inefficient: 
what else could we expect? No man ever does his best work 
merely for money. The higher energies of men cannot be pur- 
chased. The war demonstrated that beyond doubt. So long as 
workers are doomed to monotony and toil without seeing the rela- 
tion of their work to the good life of all the people, and so long as 
the only appeal made to them is that of financial self-interest, must 
we not expect a high degree of inefficiency among workers? 

At the present time most business men also lack an adequate mo- 

68 



. WHY IS THERE NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND? 

tive to maximum production. Most men are not in business pri- 
marily for the sake of producing needed goods. Their chief purpose 
is to make profit for themselves. Hence the common saying : "I am 
not in business for my health." Maximum production is not the 
aim of modern industry. The real aim is to produce the quantity 
of goods which yields the highest rate of profits. The moment 
production ceases to pay normal profits, the manufacturer takes 
refuge behind "the law of supply and demand" and limits pro- 
duction, even though there is crying need for his goods, whether 
it be shoes, fuel, houses, or food. Thus we have a condition where 
the test of production is not whether goods are needed, but 
whether it is profitable for the individual to produce them. 

We are not attempting to say that at the present time a manu- 
facturer can do anything else other than restrict production when 
he can no longer produce at a profit. We are merely pointing out 
the fact that our modern productive processes are not built around 
the needs of the community but around the profits of the managers 
or owners. The significance of this fact should not be overlooked. 
With the available natural resources, power-machines, and labor, 
it would not be difficult to produce enough goods to satisfy all of 
the real needs of the whole population if the energies of the 
nation were directed to that end. The trouble is that in our 
present system the motive of financial profit subordinates the 
motive of service and prevents the attainment of higher standards 
of production. 

4. Lack of Security. Certainly one of the reasons why the 
workers do not exert themselves sufficiently is the fear of unem- 
ployment. There is a very widespread belief among the workers 
that by extra exertion a person is likely "to work himself out of 
a job." It is commonly believed that the slower the work the 
longer the job will last. "If it is a question of 100 per cent em- 
ployment at seventy per cent efficiency or of seventy per cent em- 
ployment at 100 per cent effxiency, the laborer will quite certainly 
choose the former." Even at best the uncertainty of securing 
another job without delay tends to cause the worker to cling to 
his present job as long as possible. This fear of unemployment 
is partly responsible for the rules of many trade unions which 
tend to restrict production. 

As a matter of fact, the worker has good cause to fear unem- 
ployment. The average person with a steady income simply cannot 
comprehend the extent of the calamity of unemployment. A few 

69 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

weeks or months of enforced unemployment may absolutely dis- 
rupt the mode of living of a family and leave permanent effects 
upon them. The extent of unemployment is appalling. Rarely 
ever does the number of unemployed in the United States fall 
below one million, and in times of severe depression it runs to 
five and six millions. In many industries the workers are unem- 
ployed from one-fifth to one-third of the year. It should be 
remembered that even during periods of regular employment 
the wages of large masses of workers are insufficient to enable 
them to maintain a decent and comfortable standard of life for 
themselves and their families. This fact increases the horror of 
unemployment. It is foolish to expect the workers to put forth 
their best efforts so long as they are confronted with this dread 
of unemployment. Under such circumstances they will work no 
harder than is necessary in order to keep from being discharged. 

The lack of security is also one of the chief reasons why em- 
ployers restrict production. The degree of this insecurity is re- 
vealed in the fact that, according to Dun, there have been more 
than 260,000 commercial failures in the United States during the 
past twenty years. They are in constant fear of producing more 
goods than can be disposed of at a profit. In this connection 
Professor David Friday says : "The greatest obstacle to flood- 
tide production in this country is the conviction firmly rooted 
in the minds of both laborer and employer that America will not 

consume all that she can produce The laborer is making 

work by shirking ; the business man is timid in going forward with 
production." It is undoubtedly true that workers and employers 
alike are afraid to produce the maximum quantity of needed goods. 

The insecurity of modern business is further increased by the 
general attitude of the consuming public. Consumers insist on 
purchasing goods at the very lowest possible price, without regard 
to whether or not the workers and employers are assured an ade- 
quate income for their services. Thus we have a situation where 
employers and workers are arrayed against each other and where 
the consumers are arrayed against both employers and workers. 
By our emphasis upon self-interest we have created a vicious circle 
of antagonisms ; we are defeating our own purposes and are stand- 
ing in the way of our own progress. 

The root causes of inadequate production are found in the human 
factors of modern industry. Far more progress has been made 
in the realm of mechanical invention than in the realm of human 
relations. We have depended upon "enlightened" self-interest and 

70 



WHY IS THERE NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND? 

"free" competition to adjust human relations, with the result that 
we have created a situation in which workers and employers are 
compelled to restrict production and to do far less than their best 
in supplying the real needs of all the people, and which causes 
consumers to seek the lowest prices without regard to costs of 
production and the needs of workers and employers. 

The only possible way to get adequate production of needed 
goods is on a basis of cooperation between employers, workers, and 
consumers. It is futile to expect cordial cooperation between these 
groups so long as industry is based frankly on private gain — of 
employer, worker, or consumer. We shall not solve the human 
problems of modern industry until industry is regarded as a public 
service and goods are produced because they are needed, not merely 
because they can be sold at a profit. Production for use is the 
way out of our industrial tangle and our consequent inadequate 
supply of goods. 

There is, however, a very serious question in the minds of many 
people as to whether the quantity of goods produced would be 
greater under a system of production for use. It is maintained 
that the present system which capitalizes self-interest is better 
designed to secure maximum production than any other system. 
Pertinent questions are being asked : What basis is there for be- 
lieving that production for use would increase the quantity of 
needed goods? Is not this a theory that is without basis in actual 
experience? Will it not be necessary to "change human nature" 
before industry can be placed on a basis of production for use? 
Even if we were assured of more goods, how shall we bring about 
the change from production for private profit to production for 
use? 

These are fair questions and they should not be dodged. We 
propose, therefore, to devote our next chapter to a consideration 
of the issues involved in production for use. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. What examples among the workers have come under your 
notice of : 

a. Waste. 

b. Loafing on the job. 

c. Inefficiency. 

71 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

2. What is the reason for these? In what order would you 
rank the following as possible reasons : 

a. Cussedness. 

b. Laziness, 

c. Low mentality and ability. 

d. Desire to get even. 

e. Fear of working oneself out of a job. 

f. Lack of interest in the job. 

g. No stake in the job. 

3. What examples among the employers have come under your 
notice of : 

a. Waste. 

b. Destruction of excess products. 

c. Bad management. 

d. Destruction of output. 

4. What are the reasons for these? Rank the following in 
the order of their importance : 

a. Fear of overproduction and financial loss. 

b. Desire to produce only when profitable. 

c. Inefficiency in management. 

5. It is claimed that the public is really to blame for there not 
being enough produced, because the more labor and capital produce 
the less the public is willing to pay and so loafing and sabotage 
are profitable. 

(a) What do you think? Why? 

(b) If labor and capital produced to a maximum, would the 
consumers be willing to guarantee the producers against actual loss 
because of this increased production? 

6. If labor was protected in maximum production and capital 
was insured against loss would it make for maximum production? 
Why or why not ? 

7. Because of present waste and inefficiency thousands of 
families are robbed of the essentials of life. Under present con- 
ditions what would happen if waste and inefficiency were 
eliminated ? 

(a) Would this make possible the essentials of life to all? 

(b) Or would it still further increase the income of a favored 
few? 

8. Would a guarantee that increased production would raise 
the level of life for all the people prove a sufficient incentive to 
make capital and labor secure maximum production? Why or 
why not ? 

72 



WHY IS THERE NOT ENOUGH TO GO AROUND f 

9. In a country completely Christian would there, or would 
there not, be enough to go around? Would the full application of 
Christian principles to social and industrial life increase production 
so that each family might have enough for reasonable comfort and 
complete living? What is the reason for your answer? 



73 



CHAPTER 8 

How Can Industry be Made to Produce More 
Goods and Better People? 

In the previous chapter we discussed some of the reasons why- 
present production is inadequate and why the human factor in 
industry is neglected to so great an extent. We pointed out that 
one of the chief reasons is that production is now based upon profit 
rather than upon need. Goods which can be sold at a profit are 
produced, regardless of whether or not there is any real need for 
them. Goods which cannot be sold at a profit are not produced, 
even though many people may be suffering for lack of such goods. 
We expressed the opinion that industry must be placed on a basis 
of production for use before we can secure an adequate supply of 
needed goods. 

There was a short period during the recent war when our 
national productive processes were, to a considerable extent, 
placed on a basis of production for use. At that time we were, 
of course, confronted with a highly abnormal situation. A 
national emergency existed and our whole energy and machinery 
were directed to meeting that need. The nature and quantity of 
goods produced depended upon the relative needs. Priority was 
an order of the day. People were expected and required to forego 
many kinds of luxuries. During those days it was clearly recog- 
nized that raw materials and labor which are devoted to the 
production of useless articles of luxury constitute social waste 
and to a considerable degree luxury production was forbidden by 
law or placed under the ban of public disapproval. 

The result of this change in the purpose of production was that 
during the war emergency there was an enormous increase in 
output of needed goods. "At that time," says Professor David 
Friday, "we accomplished the amazing feat of producing enough 
so that we were able to devote fifteen billion dollars' worth of 
product to the support of our allies and to the prosecution of war 
on our own account, and at the same time to maintain the great 

74 



MORE GOODS AND BETTER PEOPLE 

mass of our people in a state of comfort fully equal to that which 
they had enjoyed in times of peace." During the period of the 
war, enforced unemployment was reduced to the minimum. It 
was easy for a man to find a job. 

The war experience was not a wholly adequate test of produc- 
tion for use. It was an emergency experience, and measures that 
are effective in emergencies may not operate successfully in 
normal times. The national danger brought about a concentration 
of governmental powers which certainly would not be tolerated in 
times of safety. The tide of patriotism which swept over the 
nation brought about an unusual degree of unselfish public service. 
Other incentives than financial self-interest were operating. On 
the other hand, there were enormous difficulties to be overcome. 
Our whole industrial life was disrupted by the sudden withdrawal 
of hundreds of thousands of skilled men for combatant service. 
Factories had to be transformed and new machinery installed. 
New workers had to be trained, including tens of thousands of 
women who were wholly inexperienced. All of this had to be 
accomplished with great speed. Cost was disregarded, maximum 
production was the objective. Consequently there was enormous 
waste and costs of production were excessively high. But after 
all advantages and disadvantages of the war emergency are con- 
sidered, the evidence seems to indicate that during that period our 
national production reached an unparalleled height and one which 
has not been maintained since the armistice. 

There are several features of our experience during those days 
which are of value in our present consideration of production for 
use. During that period we had a nation-wide demonstration of 
the effectiveness of non-financial incentives. The desire to serve 
was dominant throughout the nation. Industry was placed on a 
basis of service. This is true in spite of the scandalous profiteer- 
ing in many quarters. On the whole, there was a high degree of 
unselfish service rendered, not only by men in uniform overseas 
and in this country, but also by a multitude of men and women 
in all walks of life. For a time self-interest in industry was 
subordinated to service for the common good. 

There was also a better spirit manifested during that period. 
Men in different stations in life seemed to understand each other 
better. Much was said about the brotherhood of the trenches and 
the workshop and the new era in human relations which would 
follow the war. There was less bitterness and antagonism between 
workers and employers. This is not to say there were no strikes 

75 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

and lockouts. There were altogether too many industrial disputes. 
But on the whole, more cordial human relations prevailed than 
now exist, A great national end brought about a high degree of 
unity and cooperative effort. 

Another important factor was the unity of purchasing power. 
The government was the buyer. This gave a concentration of 
power, and was therefore an instrument of control. But in normal 
times there are many tens of thousands of separate concerns in 
the market for goods. 

All of this has an important bearing upon the first question with 
which we are concerned in this chapter, viz., How can industry 
be made to produce more goods ? The answer can only be : By 
cooperation — between employers, workers, and consumers. We 
are rapidly becoming convinced that bitterness and antagonism 
between these groups cannot be overcome by a continued emphasis 
upon self-interest, where each employer seeks the highest profits, 
each worker the highest wages, and each consumer the lowest 
prices. Harmony and efficiency in production cannot be secured 
on any other basis than production for use, where goods are 
produced because they are needed and where they are sold at the 
lowest price which allows an adequate income to employers and 
workers. This is the only basis upon which continuous coopera- 
tion in industry is possible. And without cooperation adequate 
production of necessities cannot be secured. 

Production for use also tends to give the workers a stake in the 
industry and to stimulate them to greater efficiency. If they are 
convinced that increased production will lower costs and actually 
benefit the mass of people, they are much more likely to work hard 
than if they believe that the chief purpose of increased production 
is to make larger profits for the employers. 

Production for use and cooperation in industry are not magic 
phrases which instantly solve all industrial problems. They 
simply furnish the motive and the method upon which we may 
safely build our productive processes. We should now consider 
certain channels through which this motive and this method may 
be given expression in order to secure more goods and better 
people. 

1. Research and Education. We have not yet reached per- 
fection in the mechanical aspects of production. Enormous prog- 
ress has been made in this field during the past century, but it is 
probably safe to say that an equal advance in mechanical efficiency 

76 



MORE GOODS AND BETTER PEOPLE 

will be made in the century upon which we are now entering. 
One of the encouraging signs of the day is the increasing recog- 
nition of the value of research. Many of the larger corporations 
now maintain research departments where trained scientists and 
engineers devote all of their time to research experiments. An 
immense amount of valuable research work is being done by 
various governmental agencies. All such agencies should be 
strengthened and extended. 

Equally important with the discovery of more efficient methods 
of production is the getting of these new devices into general use. 
One of the significant findings of the Engineers' Committee on 
the Elimination of Waste was that many concern-s are using in- 
efficient machines and methods. It is sometimes more profitable 
to the manufacturer to use inferior machines than it would be to 
go to the expense of installing more efficient machines. If pro- 
duction for use were the obj ective there would be a greater stimulus 
to use the most efficient machinery. 

There is also room for great improvement in the productive 
capacity of the workers. A large proportion of workers today 
are poorly qualified for their tasks. Especially among our immi- 
grant population there is a disturbing proportion of illiteracy 
among adults. In all industrial centers a considerable proportion 
of children leave school and enter industry at the earliest legal 
age. Most of these children never receive adequate training and 
consequently go through life poorly equipped for efficient work. 
Through an extension of the school age, educational classes for 
adults, technical education, and vocational guidance, it is possible 
greatly to increase the efficiency of the workers. 

2. Health Measures. There is great waste in production due 
to poor health and physical injuries. The conditions under which 
many workers are employed are highly detrimental to physical 
health and vigor. Within the past decade great improvements 
have been made in removing the menaces to the health and safety 
of the workers. The installation of safety devices is decreasing 
the number of industrial accidents. Improvements are being made 
in ventilation, sanitation, and lighting of industrial establishments. 
Fatigue is now being studied scientifically and we may expect 
great strides in decreasing its harmful effects. Industrial hygiene 
is a new science but suffixient progress has been made to justify 
the hope for still greater advance in improving the health and 
increasing the safety of the workers, thus furnishing the physical 
basis of efficiency. 

77 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

3. Regularization of Employment. Enforced unemployment 
has two disastrous effects upon production. First, machines and 
physical equipment are used to less than full capacity, with con- 
sequent lowered production. Second, the fear of unemployment 
causes the worker to restrict production, in the hope of prolonging 
his job. The fear of unemployment is one of the chief reasons 
for the inefficiency of the worker. Periods of enforced idleness 
are often responsible for a breakdown in health or morale of the 
worker, from which it may take months to recover, with a con- 
sequent loss in productive capacity. 

Concerning the seriousness of this problem, Secretary Hoover 
recently said : "There is, to my mind, no economic failure so 
terrible in its import as that of a country possessing a surplus of 
every necessity of life with numbers, willing and anxious to work, 
deprived of those necessities. It simply cannot be if our moral 
and economic system is to survive." 

While unemployment is undoubtedly one of our most serious 
industrial problems, adequate efforts have not been made to deal 
with it. In this connection Mr. Seebohm Rowntree says : "The 
existence of unemployment has been regarded by the employers 
with far too much indifference, and by the workers with far too 
much of the spirit of fatalism, and there has been a general reluc- 
tance to come to close grips with the evil with a determination to 
remedy it. Fortunately, the human aspects of industry are now 
receiving a constantly increasing amount of attention, and we may 
hope to make up for our past lethargy by rapid progress in the 
immediate future." 

One of the most conspicuous illustrations of stabilizing industry 
in the United States is that of the Dennison Manufacturing Com- 
pany of Framingham, Mass. This is a paper goods manufacturing 
company, an industry which is usually regarded as highly seasonal 
and in which periods of unemployment are common. With regard 
to methods of stabilizing this industry, Mr. Henry S. Dennison, 
president of the company, says : "With respect to unemployment 
and some other plagues, prevention is more important than cure. 
We can afford to spare no pains in attempting to put in motion 
such measures as will tend to greater regularity. While perfect 
regularity, like perfect health, in an unattainable goal, regulariza- 
tion — seasonal or cyclical — is a perfectly feasible social project. 
I doubt if the task of bringing within reasonable control the 
recurring palsy of unemployment will require one-half the effort 
which has been expended to restrain smallpox, or which is being 

78 



MORE GOODS AND BETTER PEOPLE 

expended in control of yellow fever, bubonic plague, or tubercu- 
losis. The steps which must be taken have been listed several 
times already. For seasonal control they are : planning ahead, 
inducing early ordering, adding supplementary merchandise, train- 
ing operatives to two jobs, inventing devices to protect against 
weather ; and for cyclical : furnishing statistical information, 
planning ahead, adding credit facilities, establishing labor ex- 
changes, cultivating thriftiness." 

Another important experiment in safeguarding employment is 
found in the ladies' garment industry in Cleveland. Concerning 
this plan Judge Wm. J. Mack, impartial chairman chosen jointly 
by the manufacturers and the union, says : "The plan in operation 
in the ladies' garment industry in Cleveland hits at the very crux 
of the problem, for it aims directly at the immediate reduction and 
the ultimate elimination of widespread unemployment in this 

industry Under the Cleveland plan, each manufacturer 

guarantees to his regular workers who do not leave voluntarily 
and are not justifiably discharged, twenty weeks of work during 
each half year. The workers must bear the burden of the other 
six weeks. If the employer fulfils his guaranty, by giving them 
such work, he has met his obligation; but if he does not provide 
twenty weeks of work out of the twenty-six weeks, then for the 
unemployed part of the twenty weeks, his employes become en- 
titled to two-thirds of their respective minimum wages. The 
agreement for 1922 provides a forty-one week guarantee for the 

whole year instead of twenty weeks each half year At 

the time this plan was put into effect, the whole country was in an 
industrial depression, and no one knew how long it would last or 
how serious it would be. To meet the contention of the manu- 
facturers that under the depressed conditions this two-thirds 
might amount to more than they could stand, this limitation was 
fixed : That no manufacturer should be liable to his workers for 
more than seven and one-half per cent of his total direct labor 

pay-roll for the six-month period And the fact that even 

under abnormal conditions of the last six months a great many 
manufacturers have received back a substantial part, and in some 
instances all, of their unemployment funds, shows that the in- 
centive of this plan has been a real stimulus, and that as a con- 
sequence, unemployment in our industry in Cleveland has been 
reduced." 

One of the measures most often advanced as a means of helping 
to stabilize industry is to plan public construction in such a way 

79 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 



as to have it. come at periods of low employment. The volume 
of construction by municipalities, state, and federal governments — 
public buildings, roads, streets, bridges, etc. — is sufficiently large 
to justify the effort to have it done at the times when employment 
is most needed. Closely akin to this proposal is the suggestion 
of the extension of public credit for public purposes, such as land 
reclamation, water-power development, inland waterways, public 
highways, forestry, housing, and railroads at times of serious 
unemployment. 

Unemployment insurance is often advocated as the most effective 
measure against unavoidable unemployment. In many foreign 
countries compulsory unemployment insurance laws have been 
enacted. In a succeding chapter, when we are discussing social 
insurance in general, we shall attempt an evaluation of the merits 
of compulsory unemployment insurance. 

Many experiments are being made by employers in various 
countries with different types of voluntary insurance against un- 
employment. One of the most interesting and successful of these 
schemes is that of Rowntree & Company, cocoa manufacturers, of 
York, England, of which Mr. Seebohm Rowntree is the director. 
This company sets aside one per cent of its wage-bill as an un- 
employment fund. Most of its employes are members of trade 
unions and hence when unemployed are eligible to receive six 
shillings per week from the union, in addition to fifteen shillings 
per week under the State scheme of insurance, a total of twenty- 
one shillings, or about $5 per week. The premium of one per cent 
of the wage-bill provides a fund which enables Rowntree & Com- 
pany to increase this sum during unemployment to half of their 
regular earnings for single workers, plus ten per cent for a 
dependent wife and five per cent for each dependent child under 
sixteen years of age, with a maximum of seventy-five per cent of 
the average wage, or £5 per week (about $25), whichever is less. 

Various experiments are being made by employers in the United 
States and there is reason to believe that an increasing number 
of enlightened employers will accept responsibility for stabilizing 
employment as much as possible and will provide insurance against 
unavoidable unemployment. Professor John R. Commons says, 
"Unemployment insurance is the only method which can bring 
home to the bankers, the financiers, the absentee investors, who 
control modern industry, the responsibility of capitalism for that 
same security of the job which they already obtain in the security 
of their investments." Each step in the direction of stabilizing 



^ 



MORE GOODS AND BETTER PEOPLE 

industry tends to raise the morale of the workers and to increase 
production. 

4. More Cordial Human Relations in Industry. Bitterness 
and enmity between employers and workers are a serious brake 
upon production. Enlightened employers are now awakening to the 
seriousness of the situation and are eager to establish more friendly 
relations with their employes. It would seem that in the last 
analysis cordial human relations in industry depend upon two 
factors: (1) an equitable distribution of the proceeds of industry; 
and (2) a system of control which does not create a "master and 
servant" relationship, but one in which each worker has a share 
in the democratic control of industry. 

The importance of an equitable distribution can hardly be 
exaggerated. All plans for bringing about cordial human rela- 
tions in industry are doomed to failure so long as the workers 
receive a wage which is insufficient to enable them to support their 
families in modest comfort while the employers and stockholders 
grow rich. and live in luxury. If an industry cannot pay a living 
wage to all of its workers, then certainly no person should grow 
rich out of that industry. Cordial human relations can only be 
based upon justice, and justice demands an equitable distribution 
of the proceeds of industry. 

The question of the control of industry is so important that we 
are devoting our next chapter to it. It is futile to expect adequate 
production of needed goods until a satisfactory adjustment is made 
with regard to the control of industry. 

How can industry be made to produce more goods and better 
people ? The present writers are strongly convinced that the 
placing of industry on a basis of production for use is a necessary 
step in this direction. Employers, workers, and consumers must 
cooperate in producing and distributing goods which are needed. 
To this end, research, education, and health measures are required. 
Industry must be stabilized and provision made for the income 
of workers during periods of enforced unemployment. An equi- 
table distribution of the proceeds of industry must be made. And 
a system of control must be established which gives to each 
worker a share in the democratic control of the industry in which 
he is engaged. Can we not agree that these are necessary steps 
in order to make industry produce more goods and better people? 



81 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

The following statements represent viewpoints on which people 
differ. Mark True in front of those you would be willing to 
defend as true; and False in front of those you would indicate as 
false. Then think of your reasons for believing each as true or 
false. 

Read through the chapter with the statements in mind that 
interest you most and see whether in the light of the data in the 
chapter representing both sides of the question, you would change 
your first opinion. 

1. The workers would work harder if their greater production 
lowered the cost of goods so a greater number of families could 
have the conveniences of life. 

2. Production for use will secure more goods than production 
for profit. 

3. The chief reason a worker fails to work at capacity is 
because no matter how hard he works he still has to struggle for 
subsistence while the boss grows richer and richer. 

4. The more efficient the production in industry, the less can 
human welfare be considered. 

5. Increased production automatically brings a higher standard 
of living. 

6. Unemployment is as costly to the employer as to the worker. 

7. Any attempt to regularize industry would destroy free com- 
petition and the incentive to gain and therefore would be likely to 
decrease production. 

8. The public should demand that those who control industry 
furnish regular employment for the workers or assume their 
minimum subsistence support. 

9. The comfort of the worker cannot be put first because 
without the pressure of need the worker would refuse to work. 

10. Protection of the health of the worker would pay dividends 
to the employer. 

11. In the interests of a better economic order we should 
demand that industry find the way to produce more goods without 
sacrificing the welfare of the worker. 

Suggestions to group leader: 

There are more statements than can be covered in one group 
discussion. The leader should select the ones he thinks most 

82 



MORE GOODS AND BETTER PEOPLE 

pertinent or let the group members decide which they wish to 
consider. Then throw each statement open for discussion. 

Be sure the data from the chapter dealing on each statement are 
introduced into the discussion. It might be well to select two 
persons in advance for each statement which is to be discussed, 
one to represent it as true, and the other to represent it as false, 
and open the discussion by the consideration of these two state- 
ments. 



83 



CHAPTER 9 

What Changes in Control Would Most 
Benefit Industry? 

The goal of industry is the production of more goods and better 
people. The question of control is at the very heart of industrial 
problems. Upon its solution depends the efficiency and stability 
of industry, the status of the workers, and an equitable distribu- 
tion of the proceeds of industry. 

The first step in determining what sort of control would most 
benefit industry is the selection of principles as the basis of judg- 
ment. It would seem that the value of any system of control 
depends upon two factors, its effects upon production and its 
effects upon human relations. 

Concerning any plan of control, we should ask such questions 
as these : What are its effects upon efficient production ? Does it 
offer adequate incentive to owners and managers? Does it cause 
the workers to do their best work? Does it tend to develop the 
initiative and self-reliance of the workers? 

Is adequate opportunity afforded for the self-protection of the 
owners? Does it deprive the workers of an adequate opportunity 
for self-determination, self-expression, and self -development? 
Does it create a "master and man" relationship? Are the workers 
dependent upon the benevolence of the employers? Is it pater- 
nalistic or democratic? Are the interests of the consumers safe- 
guarded? On the whole, does it tend to create huge fortunes for 
a few while many live in poverty? Does it promote discord or 
brotherhood ? 

It is altogether possible that under certain circumstances one 
plan of. control will increase production, while another will more 
effectively promote human welfare. The question then arises ; Is 
it better for society to secure higher production at the cost of the 
welfare of the workers or to safeguard the workers at the cost 
of lower production? It has, however, by no means been proved 
that in the long run production would be lowered by giving pre- 

84 



WHAT CHANGES WOULD BENEFIT MOST? 

dominance to the human factor in industry. Indeed, there is good 
reason to beheve that harmonious human relations — brotherhood, 
good will, freedom — will ultimately greatly increase production. 
From an ethical viewpoint it seems unquestionable that the human 
factor is of supreme importance. Can we agree, therefore, that 
that system of control of industry is best which is likely to create 
the most favorable atmosphere for the development of brother- 
hood and unselfish service? Is it true that in the long run such 
a system will also increase production? 

We should now proceed to examine various types of control 
and seek to determine, in the light of the effects upon production 
and upon human relations, what changes in control would most 
.benefit industry. 

1. Exclusive control by owners and stockholders. The 

only possible answer to this question that occurs to many persons 
is exclusive control by owners and stockholders. Are they not 
furnishing the capital? Have they not a right to do what they 
like with that which is their own? Is not the control of property 
by owners one of the corner stones of our national life? As a 
matter of fact, throughout our history, industry has been largely 
controlled by the persons who have furnished the necessary 
capital. 

The opinion of Judge E. H. Gary, chairman of the United 
States Steel Corporation, concerning the control of industry by 
security holders, is widely accepted. Judge Gary says : "These 
must be recognized as rightfully in control. Their capital permits 
the existence, the activities, and the success of the corporation. 
They properly may and ultimately will dictate the personnel, the 
governing rules, the policies, sales and purchases, extensions and 
improvements, rates of compensation to employes, including special 
compensation or bonus appropriations for merit, terms and con- 
ditions of employment, and all other matters pertaining to the 
properties and business and management of the corporation. 
After the honest fulfilment of all obligations to others, they are 
entitled, not only to a fair and reasonable return on their invest- 
ments, but to all the net proceeds of the business ; otherwise, they 
could not be expected to leave their capital in the enterprise in 
question." 

Does exclusive control by owners increase efficiency ? Does it 
leave the workers at the mercy of the employers? What are its 
effects upon the equitable distribution of the proceeds of industry? 

85 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

2. Control Through Employes' Representation. Many ex- 
periments are now being made with various types of shop com- 
mittees and other forms of employes' representation. The degree 
of power exercised by the workers varies greatly in the different 
schemes. The United States Steel Corporation has established 
shop committees in a number of its plants, but the power given 
the workers is exceedingly small and is confined to the making of 
suggestions as to safety, sanitation, recreation, and such matters. 
The workers have absolutely no voice in determining wage 
schedules and other major decisions affecting the industry. The 
splendid welfare work of the Steel Corporation is conducted on 
a basis of benevolent paternalism. 

The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company has had a plan of indus- 
trial representation in operation since 1915. Each plant is divided 
into ten sections, from each of which the employes elect at least 
two representatives. These representatives, with an equal number 
of representatives of the company, form a joint conference. The 
employes' representatives act on behalf of the employes in all 
matters relating to their employment, working conditions, wages, 
and adjustment of grievances. The joint conferences are held 
to discuss matters of mutual interest and to consider suggestions 
to promote efficiency and increase production, to improve working 
and living conditions, to enforce discipline, and to further friendly 
relations between the officials of the company and the employes. 
There are four joint committees, made up of six representatives of 
the employes and six representatives of the company as follows : 
industrial cooperation and conciliation ; safety and accidents ; sani- 
tation, health, and housing ; recreation and education. Provision 
is made for arbitration of such matters as cannot be adjusted in 
the joint conference through joint committees. In the selection 
of the arbitrators the employes have an equal vote with the 
company. The whole plan is under the supervision of a vice 
president of the company who is known as the Industrial Relations 
Executive. No discrimination is made because of membership or 
non-membership in labor organizations. Trade unions are not 
recognized and employes are not permitted to elect outside officials 
of unions as their representatives in the joint conference or on 
joint committees. 

William Filene's Sons Company of Boston has an organization 
of employes known as the Filene Cooperative Association. This 
is a self-governing body consisting of every employe of the com- 
pany from the highest-paid official to the lowest-paid sales-girl. 

86 



WHAT CHANGES WOULD BENEFIT MOST? 

The F. C. A. may initiate new store rules, working conditions or 
relations, wages, or any other matters except policies of business. 
Any measure vetoed by the management may be passed over the 
veto by a ballot vote of two-thirds of the membership of the 
F. C. A. The arbitration board is composed of twelve members, 
elected by the employes in various sections of the store. The 
management as such has no representation on the arbitration board. 
Of the eleven members of the board of directors of the company, 
four are employes nominated by the F. C. A. and elected by the 
stockholders. The retail clerks are not organized, but the com- 
pany maintains working agreements with various unions of team- 
sters, printers, engineers, etc. The plan, with modifications, has 
been in operation for more than twenty years and has met with 
great success. 

The Dutchess Blcachery of Wappingers Falls, New York, has 
adopted a significant plan of industrial democracy. The board of 
operatives is composed entirely of employes, and has wide powers 
of initiative concerning adjustment of grievances, working condi- 
tions, recreation, education, and has full control of the houses 
owned by the company. The board of management is composed 
of three representatives elected by the employes and three repre- 
sentatives of the management. The board of directors is composed 
of five members ; three selected from the management ; one from 
the employes, nominated by the board of operatives, and one from 
the community. "The board of directors authorizes the statement 
that our partnership plan is in no way opposed to organized labor." 

In what ways does employes' representation increase or decrease 
production? In what ways does it improve or impair human 
relations? Which of the foregoing types is likely to be of most 
benefit to industry? 

3. Workers' Control. This term has been given several dif- 
ferent meanings. In certain sections it means exclusive control by 
hand-workers, "the dictatorship of the proletariat." The number 
of persons in the United States who believe in this sort of workers' 
control is exceedingly small. 

Another meaning is that the workers shall have representation 
on the national administrative body of the industry and on the 
grievance committees in the shop. Many experiments are now 
being made with this type of workers' control. The degree of 
power exercised by the workers varies greatly in the different 
schemes. One of the most notable agreements is that between Hart, 

87 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Schaffner and Marx, one of the large clothing manufacturers of 
Chicago, and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, an unusually 
strong national union. This agreement has a very wide range 
and includes wages, hours, preference of union members in hiring, 
working conditions, discipline, etc. Throughout the ten years 
of its operation this labor agreement has met with notable 
success. The basis of this success is emphasized in the preamble 
to the agreement : "On the part of the employer it is the intention 
and expectation that this compact of peace will result in the 
establishment and maintenance of a high order of discipline and 
efficiency by the willing cooperation of union and workers .... 
that out of its operation will issue such cooperation and good 
will between employers, foremen, union, and workers as will 
prevent misunderstandings and friction and make for good team 
work, good business, mutual advantage, and mutual respect. 

"On the part of the union it is the intention and expectation 
that this compact will, with the cooperation of the employer, 
operate in such a way as to maintain, strengthen, and solidify its 
organization, so that it may be made strong enough, and efficient 
enough, to cooperate as contemplated in the preceding paragraph; 
and. also that it may be strong enough to command the respect of 
the employer without being forced to resort to militant or un- 
friendly measures. 

"On the part of the workers it is the intention and expectation 
that they pass from the status of wage servants, with no claim 
on the employer save his economic need, to that of self-respecting 
parties to an agreement which they have had an equal part with 
him in making ; that this status gives them an assurance of fair 
and just treatment and protects them against injustice or oppres- 
sion of those who may have been placed in authority over them; 
that they will have recourse to a court, in the creation of which 
their votes were equally potent with that of the employer, in 
which all their grievances may be heard, and all their claims 
adjudicated ; that all changes during the life of the pact shall be 
subject to the approval of an impartial tribunal^ and that wages 
and working conditions shall not fall below the level provided for 
in the agreement." 

Still another meaning is that the means of production should be 
entirely in the hands of workers by hand and brain. Under this 
form of control every person doing useful work in an industry — 
whether it be as a laborer, mechanic, foreman, clerk, or adminis- 
trative officer — would be regarded as a worker and as such would 



WHAT CHANGES WOULD BENEFIT MOST? 

be entitled to a share in the control of the industry. This would 
mean the elimination of owners from any share in the control of 
industry. Capital would be paid a regular rate of interest or there 
would be public ownership of the industry. 

The National Building Guild of England is making a significant 
experiment with this method of control. The Building Guild is 
made up chiefly of trade union members and its purpose is to erect 
houses without the necessity of providing profits for a contractor. 
The minimum rate of interest is paid for needed capital. The 
managers, foremen, and workers are paid regular salaries or wages. 
All operations are democratically controlled. The workers on each 
job are organized and, as a rule, choose their own foremen. The 
local guild committee is made up of representatives of the various 
trade unions represented in the building of houses. Provision is 
also made for representation of technical and administrative 
workers. This makes possible the cooperation of all types of 
workers by hand and brain required in erecting houses. The 
regional and national organizations are based upon the local guild 
committee. 

The National Building Guild has had marked success. Mr. 
Ernest Selley was requested by the periodical, Garden Cities and 
Tozvn Planning, to make an investigation of. Guild jobs. His 
report was published in the June, 1921, issue and was based upon 
a study of five Guild jobs in London and Manchester, the contracts 
of which called for 986 houses. Mr. Selley summarized his report 
in these words : " ( 1 ) The Guilds have proved that they are 
organized on business-like lines and are able to carry out building 
operations in a workman-like manner. (2) The quality of the 
work produced is distinctly above the average. (3) The weight 
of evidence goes to show that the output per man on Guild con- 
tracts is as good as that obtained by the best private contractors, 
and certainly higher than most. (4) It is not yet possible to make 
any definite statement as to comparative building costs, but, from 
the evidence obtained, there is ground for believing that the cost 
of building on Guild contracts is likely to be lower than the 
average costs in the districts where the Guilds are operating." 

What effects would an adequate representation of workers by 
hand and brain on the national administrative body of the industry 
and on local grievance committees have upon production? Upon 
human relations? Is it practicable to place entire control of an 
industry in the hands of the persons employed in that industry — 
hand- workers, clerical workers, and administrative officers? 

89 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Would it be unfair to investors simply to pay them regular 
interest on invested capital and relieve them of all responsibility 
for the control of industry? What degree of workers' control 
is most likely to benefit industry? 

4. Consumers' Control. Another type of control of industry 
is found in the cooperative movement. The primary purpose of 
the cooperative movement is the elimination of middle men, 
getting products into the hands of the consumer direct from the 
producer. 

The most successful kind of consumers' cooperation is that 
known as the Rochdale Plan, so called because it was first adopted 
by a group of poor weavers in Rochdale, England. The initial 
capital for a cooperative store is secured by voluntary subscriptions 
for stock. Democratic control is insured by reason of the fact 
that each member is entitled to only one vote, regardless of the 
amount of stock held. The minimum rate of interest is paid on 
invested capital. Goods are sold for cash at the current market 
price. At the end of the year the surplus savings, or profits, are 
used for the common social good of the mem.bers or distributed as 
savings-returns in proportion to purchases. 

The movement -has now spread to all civilized countries and 
includes retail and wholesale stores, manufacturing plants, agri- 
cultural production, and means of transportation. It is estimated 
that about thirty million families are now represented in the inter- 
national cooperative movement. In the British Isles especially 
the movement has assumed huge dimensions. There are more 
than 1,400 societies, with more than four million members, and 
187,000 employes, with an annual sale for factories and wholesale 
and retail stores of approximately a billion and a half dollars, 
and an annual net surplus of 100 million dollars to be divided 
among the members. The Cooperative Wholesale Societies own 
17,000 acres of Canadian wheat land, and 12,400 acres in England, 
in addition to many manufacturing concerns. The movement in 
the United States has developed slowly. Within the past three 
years, however, there has been a marked increase in the number 
of cooperative stores. The Rochdale cooperative movement in 
the United States has been severely handicapped by the reason of 
the existence of several movements which advertised themselves 
as cooperative movements, when in reality they were conducted 
primarily for the profit of the promoters. A number of these 
"fake" cooperative schemes have failed and this has tended to dis-. 

90 



WHAT CHANGES WOULD BENEFIT MOST? 

credit the whole idea of consumers' cooperation. Long experience 
in many countries, however, has demonstrated that the cooperative 
movement can be carried on successfully if the Rochdale principles 
are followed. 

Does the cooperative movement provide a way for greater effi- 
ciency in the distribution of the products of industry? Is coopera- 
tion in distribution more likely or less likely to improve human 
relations? Are there any types of industry in which cooperation 
is not practicable? 

5. State Control. The question of state control in industry 
is so complex and important that we propose devoting our next 
chapter to a consideration of the various aspects of the subject. 
Our final evaluation of the merits of different types of control 
in industry must, therefore, await the discussion in the succeeding 
chapter. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. Study each of the following types of control suggested in 
the chapter: 

Owner's control. 
Workers' control. 
Cooperative control. 
State control. 
As you read make notes of information on the following 
questions : 

a. What are the distinctive features of this type of control? 

b. In what ways does this type of control tend to increase and 
in what ways tend to decrease production? 

c. Does it help or hinder the full development of human beings? 

2. In the light of this study which type of control do you think 
would be of the most benefit to industry? What are your reasons 
for thinking so? 

3. Which of these types of control are the more paternalistic? 
Which the more democratic? 

4. Is paternalistic control more efficient than democratic? 

5. Which type of control is the most beneficial to human 
beings ? 

6. In the long run which type of control will bring more 
progress in industry? 

91 



CHAPTER 10 

What Degree of Public Control of Industry 
Will Best Promote the General Welfare? 

The majority of the people in the United States have looked 
with disfavor upon most phases of state regulation and control of 
industry. And yet during the past few decades a considerable 
degree of control has been assumed by the state. Under what 
circumstances is the public justified in interfering with private 
control of industry? 

1. Safety and Health Measures. It is now generally recog- 
nized that the protection of the life, health, and energies of the 
workers is not an individual question. It cannot safely be left to 
the discretion of the owner or employer. Consequently a network 
of rules and regulations have been adopted by various legislative 
bodies looking to the greater safety and better health of the 
workers. Not until 1886 was there a law in any state compelling 
the reporting of industrial accidents. Now such laws are practi- 
cally universal. In 1877 Massachusetts passed the first law requir- 
ing factory safeguards. Practically all states now have laws 
which require the guarding of machinery, the protection of ele- 
vators and hoistways, adequate ventilation, lighting, and heating ; 
sanitary provisions, protection from infectious disease, and other 
safety measures. Various laws have been passed looking to the 
protection of women and children in industry. These laws deal 
with age requirements, physical requirements and educational 
requirements of children and with prohibited employment for 
women and children and for childbirth safeguards, and regulate 
hours of employment for women and children. 

During the years from 1911 to 1919 industrial accident com- 
pensation laws were passed in forty-two states. Under these laws 
employers are required to insure their employes against industrial 
accidents. The scope of these laws varies very greatly as to 
industries, injuries, and occupational diseases included, and as to 

92 



PUBLIC CONTROL OF INDUSTRY 

the scale of compensation. There is also a wide difference in the 
vigor with which they are enforced. It is estimated that in the 
United States the compensation system covers from two-thirds to 
three-fourths of the total number of wage-workers. The primary 
purposes of a compensation act were set forth by a recent writer 
in these words : "To encourage the prevention of work injuries as 
much as possible by affording a direct incentive to such prevention, 
to restore the earning capacity of those injured workmen who 
are capable of rehabilitation, and to shift the pecuniary cost of 
work injuries from the immediate victims and their dependents to 
the community at large. Economic relief to the sufferers is not 
merely the most urgent of these objects, but is the key to both 
the others. Adequate compensation for fatal and permanent 
injuries will do more than all other legislation to promote indus- 
trial safety and to encourage genuine rehabilitation." 

Most states and municipalities have laws relating to tenement- 
house construction and to the location of obnoxious establishments. 
Severe penalties are attached to the provisions for proper disposal 
of garbage and other sanitary measures. The so-called rent laws 
in New York State are based upon the existence of an emergency 
shortage of houses which seriously threatens the health of the 
community. Under these laws severe limitations are placed upon 
owners of apartment houses, including limitations upon the rates 
of rent which may be charged and upon the power to dispossess a 
tenant. A4!any municipalities require adequate heat and light in 
apartment houses. 

During the past decade the effort to protect the lowest paid 
women workers from exploitation has taken the form of a legal 
minimum wage. Twelve states (Arizona, Arkansas, California, 
Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, 
Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Colum- 
bia) now have minimum wage laws. These laws were enacted 
because of the facts brought out in numerous investigations that 
a large proportion of unskilled women workers received wages 
which were far too low for decent self-support. The minimum 
wage awards have remedied the most flagrant cases of exploitation 
in the states where they are in operation. A recent writer in the 
Monthly Labor Reviezv in referring to minimum wage legislation, 
said : "Not only have these laws secured to women increased pay 
in large aggregate amounts, but they have at the same time 
standardized competitive conditions in the locality, and largely 
done away with the secrecy that many employers have practiced 

93 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

as to individual rates, by which unwarranted discriminations have 
been made possible inside their establishments — results of great 
value from both moral and economic standpoints." 

2. Control of Public Utilities and Semi-Monopolistic In- 
dustries. Everybody except anarchists desires a certain degree 
of state control in industry. 'Upon this point there is practical 
unanimity of opinion. But when we come to a consideration of 
various types and degrees of state control we find conflicting 
opinions. The extreme individualist, of the strictest laisses faire 
school, — who believes that the good of all will best be served by 
each person seeking his own good with the minimum of state 
interference, — is usually a strong believer in laws for the protection 
of property, exclusive franchises, patents, copyrights of trade 
names, etc. Quite often he is an ardent believer in protective 
tariffs, land grants, water-power privileges, and other forms of 
state aid. Throughout the history of the United States the most 
orthodox individualists have consistently sought the assistance of 
the government in building up private business. 

Prior to 1890 the prevailing attitude in the United States was 
that, aside from aiding in the development of certain private 
industries, the government should assume a policy of non-inter- 
ference in industry. During the past three decades, however, a 
marked change in public sentiment has taken place. This change 
is based upon changed economic conditions. During the first 250 
years of our history free land or cheap land was available. Indus- 
try was in the handicraft stage or was conducted in small factories. 
Employers and workers were on a relatively equal basis of bargain- 
ing power. The differences between the rich and the poor were 
less extreme. There was greater equality of opportunity and less 
need for legislative interference. 

Conditions today are, of course, vastly different. Free land 
and cheap productive land are gone. Our population has greatly 
increased and there has been a steady growth in the monopoliza- 
tion of land. This is the age of machine industry and productive 
units are constantly growing in size. Concentration is the order 
of the day. The chasm between the rich and the poor is growing 
wider. Fewer and fewer workers own their own tools. There is 
less equality of opportunity. The weak are less able to protect 
themselves from exploitation by the strong. 

As a result of the changing conditions, there has been an in- 
creasing demand during the past thirty years for legislative action 

94 



PUBLIC CONTROL OF INDUSTRY 

against monopolies and trusts, and in favor of more and more 
governmental control in industry. Owners of certain kinds of 
industry now possess only a limited degree of control. This is 
true of industries, classified as public utilities, and includes steam 
and electric railways, water transportation lines, express service, 
telegraph and telephone, light, heat, power, and public water 
supply. Various types of public-utility commissions fix the rates 
of payment for such services, determine the grade of service 
given, and provide for safety measures and working conditions. 

In the case of the railways two public bodies exercise a con- 
siderable degree of control. The Interstate Commerce Commission 
has power to fix rates and to compel the installation of safety 
appliances. The Railroad Labor Board does not possess the same 
degree of power over wages that the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission has over rates, but it does have considerable power in 
this field, even though it is compelled to rely upon public opinion 
for the enforcement of its wage decisions. Thus it is that the 
owners of railway property do not have the power to determine 
passenger and freight rates, nor to set wages, without consulting 
their employes or the Railroad Labor Board. 

The extent of public ownership of property in the United States 
is not generally recognized. In his annual report for 1921 the 
Secretary of the Interior stated that 400 million acres of land 
remain in the Public Domain of the United States and that this 
contains potential wealth estimated at 150 billion dollars. Details 
of this estimate included: 110 billion tons of coal, all grades; 
1,325 million barrels of crude oil; fifty billion barrels of shale oil; 
twenty million tons of potash; four billion tons of phosphate 
rock ; fifteen million water-horse-power ; seventy-five million 
acres of grazing lands, 100 million acres of semi-arid and desert 
lands, and 110 million acres of grazing lands in national forests; 
timberlands valued at 580 million dollars. i 

The value of buildings and other property in the United States 
owned by national, state, county, and municipal governments runs 
into hundreds of millions of dollars and includes the following: 
Capitols, court houses, city halls, official mansions, fire stations, 
police stations, postoffices, customs houses, armories, hospitals, 
asylums, homes for dependents, baths, schools, colleges, universi- 
ties, libraries, art galleries, museums, parks, playgrounds, botanical 



1 Quoted in W. R. Ingalls, "Health and Income of the American 
People," Appendix I. 

95 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

gardens, cemeteries, agricultural farms, live stock, machinery, 
grain elevators, cold storage, bridges, ferries, steamships, docks, 
markets, gas works, electric plants, v^ater works, bus lines, street 
railways, the Alaskan Railway. One of the largest publishing 
houses in the world is owned by the United States government. 
From it are issued two daily publications, five weeklies, and seven 
monthlies, as well as hundreds of volumes annually. Considered 
in the aggregate the amount of property which is publicly owned 
in the United States is enormous. And yet there is relatively 
less public ownership in the United States than in almost any other 
civilized country. 

3. What Further Extensions of Public Control or Owner- 
ship Are Desirable? The principle of state interference with 
private industry, in the interest of public health and as a means 
of protecting the public welfare against the menace of uncontrolled 
monopoly and excessive concentration, is well established. With 
regard to the extension of public control or ownership, the test 
is one of expediency. Can the public welfare best be served by 
state control? If the wisdom of such a step can be established, 
the enactment of necessary legislation does not involve any de- 
parture from precedent. A number of such measures are now 
being advocated. 

Health Insurance. In nine states official commissions have made 
reports concerning the need for this type of social insurance. 
There is a considerable volume of evidence available which reveals 
industry as an important factor in causing sickness. Many of the 
arguments used in advocacy of industrial accident insurance are 
now being used in favor of compulsory health insurance. The 
bills which have been introduced in various state legislatures 
usually provide that the cost shall be divided equally between 
worker and employer, and that the scheme shall be administered 
by the state. They usually provide for a cash sickness benefit 
during twenty-six weeks, medical care, maternity benefits, and 
a funeral benefit. Thus far there has been considerable popular 
opposition to compulsory health insurance and a majority of medi- 
cal men also seem to be opposed to the idea. Compulsory health 
legislation has been enacted in a score of foreign countries. 

Unemployment Insurance. Within recent years a number of 
experiments have been made by different municipalities and states 
in Europe with various types of compulsory unemployment insur- 
ance. In England and in Italy national schemes of unemployment 

96 



PUBLIC CONTROL OF INDUSTRY 

insurance are in operation. Under the British scheme each adult 
male worker pays a premium of about eight cents per week and the 
employer pays an equal amount. The government adds an amount 
sufficient to provide an unemployment benefit of fifteen shillings 
per week (about $3.50) for each adult male worker who is unable 
to secure employment, and twelve shillings for unemployed wornen. 
These sums are, of course, wholly inadequate, and yet even such 
a small weekly benefit has relieved an immense amount of distress. 

Mr. Seebohm Rowntree, director of a large manufacturing con- 
cern in York, has recently proposed a much more comprehensive 
scheme of national unemployment benefits. He estimates that the 
total amount of unemployment in normal years does not exceed 
five per cent. Therefore, a tax on industry of five per cent of the 
wage-bill would provide benefits equal to full pay for unemployed 
workers. There is general agreement that it would be unwise to 
make unemployment benefits equal to full pay. Mr. Rowntree 
proposes that the unemployment benefit should be one-half of the 
regular wage, with an additional ten per cent for a dependent wife, 
and five per cent for each dependent child, with a maximum of 
seventy-five per cent of his average earnings. Mr. Rowntree 
estimates that if the employer paid a premium equal to two and 
one-half per cent of his wage-bill, and the worker paid one per 
cent of his earnings, and the government granted a subsidy of 
approximately twenty million dollars, an ample fund would be 
available for the scale of unemployment benefits suggested above. 
Concerning unemployment insurance, Mr. Rowntree says : "What 
I want to plead for is the acceptance of the view that it is not 
unreasonable of the workers to demand that, just as a well-ad- 
ministered firm sets aside capital reserve in periods of prosperity 
so that it may equalise dividends over good and bad years, so an 
industry or a firm should establish a wages equalization fund, 
which will enable it to pay part wages to its reserve of workers 
during the periods in which their services are not needed." 

Public Ownership of Coal Mines and Railways. There is an 
increasing demand for public ownership of coal mines and railways. 
A plan for the public ownership of coal mines has received high 
official endorsement in England. In 1919 the British Coal Com- 
mission was appointed and authorized to make a sweeping investi- 
gation of the whole industry and bring in recommendations. The 
British government agreed in advance to adopt its recommenda- 
tions. The commission was made statutory, with the full power 
of Parliament behind it. It was composed of twelve commis- 

97 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

sioners and a judge — three coal owners, three miners, three repre- 
sentatives of allied industries, and three economists. Mr. Justice 
Sankey was made chairman. At the conclusion of the investiga- 
tion, the chairman began his report with these words : "I recom- 
mend that Parliament be invited immediately to pass legislation 
acquiring the coal royalties for the state and paying fair and just 
compensation to the owners. I recommend on the evidence before 
me that the principle of state ownership of the mines be accepted." 
He then went on to recommend the creation of a national mining 
council, district mining councils, and local mining councils, in all 
of which representation should be provided for workers, consumers, 
and the technical and commercial side of the industry. These 
recommendations were not accepted by the government, but there 
is a widespread feeling that efficiency and stability in the coal 
industry of Great Britain will never be secured until such a plan 
is adopted. 

The United Mine Workers of American are now advocating the 
nationalization of the coal mines. The American Federation of 
Labor has officially endorsed the Plumb Plan, calling for public 
ownership of the railways, and joint operation by representatives 
of managers, workers, and the public. 

■ Taxation as a Means of Preventing Excessive Concentration of 
Wealth. That huge fortunes are a possible menace to public wel- 
fare is now generally recognized. Taxation is often suggested 
as one of the most effective ways of limiting the excessive con- 
centration of wealth. In the final report of the Federal Commis- 
sion on Industrial Relations a recommendation was made that 
personal fortunes in the United States be limited to one million 
dollars. If such a limitation seemed desirable to a majority of the 
people of the country, the means are at hand. 

The income tax is now firmly established in this country. In 
1894 a federal income-tax law in the United States was declared 
unconstitutional. In 1909 an amendment to the Constitution giving 
Congress power "to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from what- 
ever source derived" was submitted to the states and on February 
25, 1913, was declared adopted, having been ratified by the neces- 
sary two-thirds of the states. 

Under the United States Revenue Act of 1918, provision was 
made for a progressive income tax, the rates ranging from four 
per cent on incomes of $3,000 to a combined normal and surtax 
of seventy-three per cent on incomes of more than a million 
-dollars. The total tax on incomes of $100,000 was fifty-six per 

98 



PUBLIC CONTROL OF INDUSTRY 

cent. In addition to the federal government, many of the states 
levy an income tax. 

The federal income tax has proved to be a huge success as a 
revenue measure. The amount received from this source has 
jumped from less than sixty-one million dollars in 1914 to more 
than 3,956 millions in 1920. Up to the present time, however, it 
has not succeeded to any considerable extent in limiting the 
growth of great fortunes. The wealth of many rich men has 
more than doubled since 1914, when the federal income-tax law 
became effective, and in many cases the increase has been upwards 
of 500 per cent. The reasons for this failure are obvious. Even 
after the 1921 tax is deducted from a million-dollar income, there 
remains a sum of $336,810, and at the 1922 rate the amount re- 
maining is $449,360. Then, too, there are many ways of evading 
the tax on large portions of income. Interest from many govern- 
ment bonds and certain other forms of income are non-taxable. 

The significance of the income tax has not been fully realized 
by the American people. Already we have experimented with 
rates varying from fifty-six to seventy-three per cent on incomes 
above $100,000 a year. If the exemption on certain government 
bonds and other securities should be withdrawn and the rates of 
incomes ^bove $100,000 should be increased to eighty or ninety 
per cent, and a graded tax should be placed on undistributed earn- 
ings of corporations, it would be possible to prevent the accumu- 
lation of excessively large fortunes. 

The Inheritance Tax. Andrew Carnegie often said that it was 
a disgrace for a man to die rich. The levying of death duties or 
inheritance taxes goes back to the beginning of recorded history, 
and today they are used almost universally throughout the civilized 
world. The inheritance tax is now firmly installed as a permanent 
part of our federal financial system. Under the Revenue Act of 
February, 1919, the inheritance tax on estates varied from one per 
cent on estates not in excess of $50,000 to twenty-five per cent on 
estates above ten millions. Estates under $50,000 are exempt from 
the inheritance tax. Forty-five of the States also levy inheritance 
taxes, the rates varying from one per cent to thirty per cent, 
according to the amount of the estate and the kinship of the heir. 

Inheritance taxes have not thus far been successful in checking 
the growth of great fortunes, due to three reasons : First, they 
have not been used on an effective scale for a sufficient length of 
time ; second, the rates have not been sufficiently high, even under 
the federal tax and the highest state taxes direct heirs may inherit 

99 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

$750,000 out of a million-dollar estate, while indirect heirs may- 
inherit $600,000 out of one million dollars ; third, large fortunes 
are usually distributed prior to the death of the owner. 

Are we now ready to reach any conclusions as to what changes 
in control would most benefit industry? What is our estimate of 
exclusive control by owners? Of control through employes' repre- 
sentation? Of workers' control? Of consumers' control? Of 
state control? 

What degree of public control of industry will best promote 
the general welfare? Each proposal should be tested by such ques- 
tions as these : Is it necessary for the protection of the public 
health and welfare? It is the most efficient way of achieving the 
desired end? Does it tend to place industry on a basis of produc- 
tion for use? Does it promote cooperation in industry? Will it 
aid in securing an equitable division of the national wealth and 
income? Will it promote genuine democracy? 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

1. What laws and regulations are there in your community in 
the interests of safety and health? 

2. Who controls the water works, the electric light plants, 
street cars, and other public utilities in your community? 

3. What is the extent of public control and ownership in the 
United States? Is it decreasing or increasing? 

4. Under what circumstances, if any, is the public justified in 
regulating private industries? Under what circumstances, if any, 
is public ownership desirable? 

5. When does an industry become of public concern? 

6. What are the principles by which it may be determined? 
What degree of public control of industry will best promote the 
general welfare? 

7. Do you favor the extension of public control? If so, to 
what degree? If not, why not? 

8. Is the public justified in using taxation to secure a more 
equitable distribution of wealth? 



100 



CHAPTER 11 

How Rapidly Can a Christian Economic 
Order Be Achieved? 

In our opening chapter we called attention to the fact that in 
every quarter the present economic order is being challenged and 
that many are saying that life is almost intolerable for masses of 
the people. In the intervening chapters we have attempted to 
analyze economic conditions in the United States and to point 
out the sources of division and inefHciency. In the light of this 
study, is it true to say that there is an appalling amount of suffer- 
ing and misery and that there is widespread exploitation and 
injustice? 

1. Is a Christian Economic Order Practicable? Many per- 
sons say that it is utterly impossible to conduct modern industry 
on a basis of the spirit of Jesus. Such persons say that it is 
futile to expect business men to regard their competitors as brothers 
and to manifest only good will and love toward them, or to trans- 
form the antagonisms between employers and workers into mutual 
service for the common good. There is a widespread feeling that 
"not until the millennium comes" will bankers, manufacturers, 
merchants, brokers, plumbers, bricklayers, and miners be dominated 
by the same motives which prompt the highest kind of service by 
teachers, nurses, scientists, preachers, and missionaries. It is con- 
tended that there is no hope of achieving a Christian economic 
order for many generations to come. 

There is much to be said in favor of this point of view. The 
Christian forces have been seeking for nineteen centuries to estab- 
lish the Kingdom of God on earth. Thus far they have not 
wholly succeeded. The presence of many giant evils in our day 
is conclusive proof of their incomplete success. To move any 
appreciable distance toward the achievement of a Christian eco- 
nomic order in this generation is a stupendous task. No useful 

101 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

purpose is served by attempting to deny the magnitude of the 
difficulties to be overcome. 

Lethargy and indifference are responsible for much of our lack 
of progress. Most people find it exceedingly difficult to get out of 
the rut of routine and to exert themselves continuously for social 
progress. The problem is intensified by the fact that too often 
men do not know "how the other half lives" and are not sufficiently 
concerned to find out the extent of injustice and suffering. This 
lack of sensitiveness and the unawareness of the presence of 
monstrous wrongs and widespread misery is a common character- 
istic even among religious people. 

The situation is further complicated by reason of the strong 
tendency to defend the status quo. The presumption is usually in 
favor of things-as-they-are. Tradition, custom, and social habit 
exert a tremendous influence over a community and can be dis- 
placed only with great difficulty. 

Ignorance is one of the chief obstacles blocking the way to the 
achievement of a Christian economic order. Men with the best 
intentions are puzzled to know how they can live truly Christian 
lives under present conditions. Modern economic life is extremely 
complex. Our maladies are rooted in the distant past and cannot 
be cured by surface remedies. A correct diagnosis requires keen 
observation and great skill. 

There is no room for doubt as to the seriousness of the diffi- 
culties which confront the follower of Jesus in this day. And yet 
one of the notable characteristics of true Christians through the 
ages has been an indomitable optimism, a refusal to be discouraged 
at the magnitude of the task to be accomplished. Again and again 
the attitude taken toward enormous difficulties has been : They can 
be overcome. 

Christians in every land have received a powerful stimulus from 
the conviction that they were working in cooperation with the 
Holy Spirit. They have felt that their weakness would be supple- 
mented by the power of the living God. They have remembered 
the words of our Lord : "And, lo, I am with you always, even to 
the end of the world." "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 
that will I give you." "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye 
shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." "When he, 
the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all truth." 
"Greater things than these shall ye do because I go unto the 
Father." "With God all things" are possible." "My Father 
worketh even until now, and I work." 

102 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

The faith and courage of the Apostle Paul have been reflected 
in true Christians of all ages : "I can do all things in Him that 
strengtheneth me." "And my God shall fulfill every need of yours 
according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." "For I am not 
ashamed of the Gospel : for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth." "I press on toward the goal unto 
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 

In the realm of human relations nothing is impossible for the 
Christian. All men are created in the Divine Image and have 
vast undeveloped capacities for brotherhood and service. Mutual 
aid operates as truly as antagonism. In every human being are 
unbounded capacities for self-denial and vicarious sacrifice. This 
generation needs no further proof at this point. During these 
recent years we have witnessed a world-wide demonstration of the 
capacity of human beings to undergo privation, danger, suffering, 
death, and bereavement for the sake of a common cause. Latent 
within every human being is the capacity to forget selfish aims in 
the enthusiasm of serving the common good. 

There is also a vast store of creative ability now being left un- 
developed and unused. Professor J. A. Hobson says : "The 
assumption that artistic and inventive faculty is exceedingly rare, 
because it has so seldom been displayed, must be boldly chal- 
lenged It is likely that far more human genius is lost 

than is saved, even in the more civilized nations of today." One 
of the things Jesus did for His disciples was to release the latent 
power of their lives. At its best the Christian religion has 
throughout the centuries quickened the consciences, revolutionized 
the motives, and given new power to its followers. 

The Christian of this day receives encouragement from a study 
of history. Men in other generations with less adequate resources 
faced problems equally as serious as any with which we are con- 
fronted. Many great evils of other days have been abolished. 
For ages man's conception of God caused him to offer human 
sacrifices upon the altar. Throughout long periods of human 
history men delighted in the sight of blood and in their most 
popular sports man was pitted against man, and man against beast. 
Stadiums rocked with applause at the sight of human blood upon 
the sand. Throughout much of human history woman was a beast 
of burden or a mere plaything for man. The sale of children by 
parents has been an accepted custom in many lands. The beginning 
of human slavery is lost in antiquity. It has been said that 
civilization began with the crack of the whip. For ages private 

103 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

quarrels were fought out in mortal combat and duelling was 
accepted as inevitable and desirable. There is no record of a time 
when men did not drink intoxicating liquors, and yet in America 
steps have recently been taken which have eliminated a con- 
siderable proportion of drunkenness and in the next decade will 
reduce it still further. For ages man groped in darkness with only 
a glimmer of light. Magic and superstition were all-powerful. 
The scientific method was long regarded as heresy. Men of 
science, dominated by a passion for truth, were imprisoned, tor- 
tured, and burned. 

One of the encouraging signs of the times is the new sensitive- 
ness to suffering and injustice. The very fact that a volume of 
protest is arising and that everywhere men are seeking a way out 
of the present distress, gives hope for the future. In past ages 
when men became sensitive to any great evil, made up their minds 
that it must be abolished, and set about the task with determination, 
they have succeeded to a marked degree. And so will it be with 
present evils. They can be overcome. They must be overcome. 
We must refuse to regard as inevitable any evil in modern life. 
We must refuse to tolerate any immoral practice, no matter how 
deep rooted in the past it may be or how difficult seems the task 
of uprooting it. 

This attitude is now becoming increasingly characteristic of the 
churches in the United States. In many quarters there is a new 
conscience concerning exploitation and injustice in economic life. 
A multitude of Christian laymen and ministers are insisting that 
these wrongs must be righted and are exerting themselves strenu- 
ously to this end. 

One evidence of this fact is found in "The Social Ideals of the 
Churches" adopted by the Federal Council of the Churches of 
Christ in America. The Federal Council is composed of official 
representatives of thirty-one Protestant religious bodies, the total 
membership of which is over twenty million persons. 

Social Ideals of the Church^ 

Action Taken by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in 
America at a Special Meeting Held at Cleveland, Ohio, May 
6-8, 1919. 

Resolved, That we reaffirm the social platform adopted by the 



1- Copies of "The Social Ideals of the Churches" may be secured from the 
Federal Council of Churches, 105 East 22d Street, New York City., 

104 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

First Quadrennial in Chicago, 1912, and ratified by the Second 
Quadrennial in St. Louis, 1916. 
That the churches stand for : 

I. Equal rights and justice for all men in all stations of life. 
II. Protection of the family by the single standard of purity, 
uniform divorce laws, proper regulation of marriage, proper 
housing. 

III. The fullest possible development of every child, especially 
by the provision of education and recreation. 

IV. Abolition of child labor. 

V. Such regulation of the conditions of toil for women as 
shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community. 
VI. Abatement and prevention of poverty. 
VII. Protection of the individual and society from the social, 
economic, and moral waste of the liquor traffic. 
VIII. Conservation of health. 
IX. Protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, 
occupational diseases, and mortality. 

X. The right of all men to the opportunity for self-main- 
tenance, for safeguarding this right against encroachments of every 
kind, for the protection of workers from the hardships of enforced 
unemployment. 

XL Suitable provision for the old age of the workers, and 
for those incapacitated by injury. 

XII. The right of employes and employers alike to organize ; 
and for the adequate means of conciliation and arbitration in 
industrial disputes. 

XIII. Release from employment one day in seven. 

XIV. Gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to 
the lowest practicable point, and for that degree of leisure for all 
which is a condition of the highest human life. 

XV. A living wage as a minimum in every industry, and for 
the highest wage that each industry can afford. 

XVI. A new emphasis upon the application of Christian prin- 
ciples to the acquisition and use of property, and for the most 
equitable division of the product of industry that can ultimately 
be devised. 

Facing, the social issues involved in reconstruction. 
Resolved, That we affirm as Christian Churches : 

1. That the teachings of Jesus are those of essential democracy 
and express themselves through brotherhood and the cooperation 
of all groups. We deplore class struggle and declare against all 
class domination, whether of capital or labor. Sympathizing with 
labor's desire for a better day and an equitable share in the profits 
and management of industry, we stand for orderly and progressive 
social reconstruction instead of revolution by violence. 

2. That an ordered and constructive democracy in industry is 

105 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

as necessary as political democracy, and that collective bargaining 
and the sharing of shop control and management are inevitable 
steps in its attainment. 

3. That the first charge upon industry should be that of a wage 
sufficient to support an American standard of living. To that end 
we advocate the guarantee of a minimum wage, the control of 
unemployment through government labor exchanges, public works, 
land settlement, social insurance, and experimentation in profit 
sharing and cooperative ownership. 

4. We recognize that women played no small part in the 
winning of the war. We believe that they should have full politi- 
cal and economic equality with equal pay for equal work, and a 
maximum eight-hour day. We declare for the abolition of night 
work by women, and the abolition of child labor ; and for the 
provision of adequate safeguards to insure the moral as well as 
the physical health of the mothers and children of the race. 

A pronouncement concerning social reconstruction has been 
issued by the Administrative Committee of the National Catholic 
War Council, an official organization of the Roman Catholic 
Church in the United States. ^ Brief extracts from this statement 
are as follows : 

One general principle is clear : No female workers should remain 

in any occupation that is harmful to health or morals The 

proportion of women in industry ought to be kept within the 
smallest practical limits. Those women who are engaged at the 
same tasks as men should receive equal pay for equal amounts and 
qualities of work 

In passing, it may be noted that government competition with 
monopolies that cannot be effectively restrained by the ordinary 
anti-trust laws deserves more serious consideration than it has yet 
received. More important and more effective than any govern- 
ment regulation of prices would be the establishment of coopera- 
tive stores In addition to reducing the cost of living, the 

cooperative stores would train our working people and consumers 
generally in habits of saving, in careful expenditure, in business 

methods, and in the capacity of cooperation They will 

then realize the folly of excessive selfishness and senseless indi- 
vidualism 

We are glad to note that there is no longer any serious objection 
urged by impartial persons against the legal minimum wage. The 
several states should enact laws providing for the establishment of 
wage rates that will be at least sufficient for the decent mainte- 
nance of a family, in the case of all male adults, and adequate 



^Copies may be secured from the Council, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, 
N. W., Washington, D. C. 

106 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

to the decent individual support of female workers. In the be- 
ginning the minimum wages for male workers should suffice only 
for the present needs of the family, but they should be gradually 
raised until they are adequate to future needs as well. That is, 
they should be ultimately high enough to make possible that 
amount of saving which is necessary to protect the worker and his 
family against sickness, accidents, invalidity, and old age. Until 
this level of legal minimum wages is reached the worker stands in 
need of the device of insurance. The state should make compre- 
hensive provision for insurance against illness, invalidity, unem- 
ployment, and old age. So far as possible the insurance fund 
should be raised by a levy on industry, as is now done in the case 
of accident compensation. The industry in which a man is em- 
ployed should provide him with all that is necessary to meet all 
the needs of his entire life 

The right of labor to organize and to deal with employers 
through representatives has been asserted above in connection with 
the discussion of the War Labor Board. It is to be hoped that 
this right will never again be called in question by any consider- 
able number of employers 

It seems clear that the present industrial system is destined to 

last for a long time in its main outlines Nevertheless, the 

present system stands in grievous need of considerable modifica- 
tions and improvement. Its main defects are three: Enormous 
inefficiency and waste in the production and distribution of com- 
modities ; insufficient incomes for the great majority pf wage- 
earners, and unnecessarily large incomes for a small minority of 

privileged capitalists The full possibilities of increased 

production will not be realized so long as the majority of the 
workers remain mere wage-earners. The majority must somehow 
become owners, or at least in part, of the instruments of produc- 
tion. They can be enabled to reach this stage through coopera- 
tive productive societies and copartnership arrangements 

Changes in our economic and political system will have only 
partial and feeble efficiency if they be not reinforced by the Chris- 
tian view of work and wealth The employer has a right to 

get a reasonable living out of his business, but he has no right 
to interest on his investment until his employes have obtained at 
least living wages. This is the human and Christian, in contrast 
to the purely commercial and pagan, ethics of industry. 

The Central Conference of American Rabbis has issued a 
'■'Social Justice Program,''^ from which we quote as follows : 

The Conference recognizes the right of Labor to organize and 
to bargain collectively through representatives of its own choosing 

1 Printed in The Survey, September 1, 1920, p. 654. Copies may be 
secured from. Rabbi Horace J. Wolf, Rochester, N. Y. 

107 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

as an instrument by which to secure its rights at the hands of the 
employers. It further recognizes the right of labor to share more 
equitably in determining the conditions of labor as well as in 
the reward 

The Conference condemns all slacking and sabotage, and de- 
nounces as subversive of the safety of society and of the well- 
being of the republic the use of violence in industrial dispute. It 
calls upon labor as well as upon capital to exhaust all the re- 
sources of peaceable settlement before resorting to the strike or 
the lockout. It maintains the welfare of the public to be supreme 
above the interests of any class or classes. 

The inequalities of living and earning conditions, intolerable 
even before the war and rendered still more flagrant as a result 
of the world upheaval, demand immediate adjustment 

It declares its abhorrence of all interference, whether by private 
citizens or by officials, with the exercise of freedom of speech, 
oral or written, and of freedom of assemblage, both of which are 
guaranteed by the Constitution. And it further condemns the 
use of private police under the guise of and in the capacity of 
public administrators of the law as tyrannical and conducive to 
injustice and violence 

The Conference urges as axiomatic the following industrial 
norms, which have been stressed in previous declarations of this 
Conference, viz., the legal enactment of an eight-hour day as a 
maximum for all industrial workers ; a compulsory one-day-of- 
rest-in-seven for all workers, to whom shall be assured the right 
of observing their Sabbath in accordance with their religious 
convictions ; the regulation of industrial conditions to secure for 
all workers a safe and sanitary working environment with par- 
ticular attention to the special needs of women ; the abolition of 
child labor and the raising of the standards of age wherever the 
legal age limit is lower than is consistent with moral and physical 
health ; adequate workingmen's compensation for industrial acci- 
dents and occupational diseases and provision for the contingencies 
of unemployment and old age. 

These official pronouncements by representatives of three great 
religious forces in the United States reveal the extent of the 
interest of the churches in social problems. In addition to these 
official statements, there are several significant religious move- 
ments of an unofficial nature which are exerting themselves 
on behalf of a new social order. 

One of these is the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which has 
now been operating for about seven years. ^ The following 



^ Persons desiring further information concerning this movement should 
write to Bishop Paul Jones, Secretary, 396 Broadway, New York City. 

108 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

paragraphs taken from its statement of principles reveal the 
basis of its activities : 

The Fellowship of Reconciliation is a group of persons who, 
individually and collectively, seek more uncompromising practice 
of the principles of Christ in personal and social action, believing 
that in Him we have the satisfying solution of all the problems of 
our complex life. It unites men and women expressing in various 
forms their common Christian faith, who are profoundly disturbed 
by the confusion of thought and utterance throughout the Christian 
world with regard to war and other great social and industrial 
questions. To the members of the Fellowship it appears that in 
accepting as inevitable the present world order we have all failed 
to interpret the mind of Christ, and that confidence in His leader- 
ship involves us in the endeavor to apply unflinchingly His revo- 
lutionary principle of love. 

Without wishing to bind themselves to any exact forrn of words, 
they would state their general agreement on the following points : 

That Love as revealed and interpreted in the life, teachings, and 
death of Jesus Christ is not only the fundamental basis of a true 
human society, but the effective power for overcoming evil and 
for accomplishing His redemptive purposes. 

That since these purposes must be fulfilled through men and 
women, it is incumbent upon the followers of Christ to endeavor 
to practice unswervingly his principle of love as the inviolable 
law of personal relationships, and the transforming power of 
human life, and to take the risks involved in applying this prin- 
ciple in a world which does not yet accept it. 

That the love revealed in Christ profoundly reverences per- 
sonality ; strives to create an order of society which suffers no 
individual to be exploited for the profit or pleasure of another, 
but assures to each the means of development for his highest 
usefulness ; seeks reconciliation between man and man, class and 
class, nation and nation, race and race ; deepens and enriches 
devotion to home, to church, and to country, and harmonizes all 
these loyalties in dedication of life to humanity and to the universal 
Kingdom of Christ. 

That since war inevitably involves violation of these principles 
and disregard of the supreme value of personality, we find our- 
selves unable to engage in it ; and, since the existing organization 
of society engenders motives and methods which violate these 
principles and hinder the development of character into the likeness 
of Christ, we are convinced that loyalty to Him and to humanity 
calls us to seek with others such fundamental changes in the 
spirit of men and in the structure of the social order as shall 
make possible the full expression of love in personal, social, indus- 
trial, national, and international life. 

109 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Within the past few months the Fellowship for a Christian 
Social Order has been inaugurated.^ At its recent conference at 
Lake Mohonk, which was attended by representatives from many- 
sections of the United States, a statement was adopted as its 
basis, from which we quote as follows : 

I. 
This Fellowship binds together for mutual counsel, inspiration, 
and cooperation, men and women who are seeking fundamental 
changes in the spirit and structure of the present social order 
through loyalty to Jesus' way of life, 

II. 
We believe that human fellowship has its necessary basis in 
fellowship with God as He is revealed in Jesus. 

III. 

As we interpret the life and teaching of Jesus, the supreme task 
of mankind is the creation of a social order, the Kingdom of God 
on earth, wherein the m.aximum opportunity shall be afforded for 
the development and enrichment of every human personality; in 
which the supreme motive shall be love ; wherein men shall co- 
operate in service for the common good and brotherhood shall be 
a reality in all of the daily relationships of life. 

IV. 

We must, therefore, endeavor to change such unchristian aspects 
of our present social order as now hinder the spirit of fellowship : 
extravagant luxury for some while many live in poverty and 
want ; excessive concentration of power and privilege arising from 
vast wealth in the hands of the few; monopoly of natural resources 
for private gain ; autocratic profit and power rather than for social 
use and service ; arrogance and antagonism of classes, nations and 
races ; war, the final denial of brotherhood. 

V. 
We believe that in the spirit and principles of Jesus is found 
the way of overcoming these evils and that within the Christian 
Church there should be a unity of purpose and endeavor for the 
achieving of a Christian social order. By means of fellowship in 
thought and prayer we come to understand the point of view of 
those who differ from us, make possible new discoveries of truth 
and aid one another in the solution of common problems. We 



^ Persons desiring further information concerning this movement should 
write to Kirby Page, 311 Division Avenue, Hasbrouck Heights, New 
Jersey. 

110 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

believe that social changes should be effected through educational 
and spiritual processes, especially by an open-minded examination 
of existing problems and suggested solutions, full discussion, and 
varied experimentation. We pledge ourselves to vigorous activity 
in seeking a solution, by tjiese means, of the social problems which 
we face. ^ 

In addition to these movements, most of the larger religious 
bodies have national departments of social service, with bureaus 
of information and traveling secretaries.^ In addition, the Church 
League for Industrial Democracy^ is doing effective work among 
members of the Episcopal Church. There are also several other 
movements within the churches working for social righteousness, 
such as the Brotherhood of the Kingdom, etc. 

Plans are now under way for conducting in 1924 a National Con- 
ference on the Meaning of Christianity in Industrial, Racial, and 
International Relations. A similar conference is to be held in 
England. A world conference on "Life and Work" is planned for 
1924 or 1925. 

It is sometimes said that the pronouncements of various religious 
bodies are only paper programs, mere words, and do not possess 
any real significance. In reply, it should be pointed out that the 
statements and activities of these bodies indicate a new sensitive- 
ness to the evils in the present social order and a new determina- 
tion to overcome them. In past centuries an awakened conscience 
to great evils and a resolute determination to overcome them has 
been the basis of moral progress. And so it is in our day. The 
awakening within the churches during the past few decades with 
regard to social problems is of tremendous significance for the 
moral progress of mankind. 

The Christians of this generation should not be dismayed by 
the magnitude of the tasks with which they are confronted. The 
attitude and spirit needed is that of the Christian missionary 
facing the superstition, cruelty, and antagonism of pagan people, 
or that of a devoted physician seeking a cure for the maladies of 
mankind, or that of a scientist searching for truth. 

The attitude of modern engineers toward mechanical difficulties 
is well known. Again and again the "impossible" has been ac- 



^ For information concerning any of the social service departments of 
religious bodies write to the Commission on the Church and Social Service 
of the Federal Council of Churches, 105 East 22d Street, New York. 

- The Secretary is the Rev, Richard W, Hogue, 129 Nippon Street, Mt. 
Airy, Philadelphia, Pa, 

111 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

complished. Behind the desk of one of the great industrial leaders 
of this country is a small electric sign : "Can't must be over- 
come." At critical moments in deliberations with his associates 
he flashes this sign. This is the attitude we must take toward the 
problems of modern industry. In all matters of human relations, 
as well as in mechanical production, "Can't must be overcome." 

We should not be unduly impressed by the current scepticism as 
to Christianizing the economic order. This same doubt has been 
manifested in every age and concerning the abolition of every 
great evil. James Russell Lowell once pointed out that "not a 
change for the better in our human housekeeping has ever taken 
place that wise and good men have not opposed it — have not proph- 
esied with the aldermen that the world would wake up to find 
its throat cut in consequence of it." Concerning mechanical in- 
ventions there have been many sceptics. In 1877 the London Times 
denounced the telephone as "the latest American humbug." In 
1834 the Nezv York Evening Star said, "Among new inventions 
to increase the pauperism of England, we observe a portable steam 
threshing machine." 

It has been said that "the retrospective vision of accomplished 
fact is the most fantastic of all Utopias. Compared to it the tasks 
which our limited vision can see lying ahead of us are singularly 
simple." 

2. How Rapidly Can a Christian Economic Order Be 
Achieved? There are two common attitudes toward this ques- 
tion. First, there is the attempt to revolutionize the economic 
order immediately and the tendency to be impatient with delay. 
Second, there is the widespread feeling that no considerable 
progress in the solution of economic problems can be made in a 
short time, with the consequent tendency to regard proposed solu- 
tions as "Utopian." 

An examination of the records of history reveals the fact that 
many far-reaching changes in human affairs have taken place with 
relatively great speed. In the realm of knowledge and mechanical 
invention this is conspicuously true. It has been said that "for 
the material advancement of mankind the nineteenth century has 
done more than all preceding ages combined." Not only with 
regard to inventions but also in the realm of moral problems great 
strides have been made within comparatively short periods. During 
a few decades of the nineteenth century, slavery, an institution 
older than written records, was almost entirely banished from the 

112 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

civilized world. During the last half century another practice 
that antedates written history, drunkenness from intoxicating 
liquors, has been legally prohibited in America and considerable 
progress has been made toward its actual abolition. There is no 
room for doubt that under certain conditions marked speed may be 
attained in the solution of moral problems. 

"So far from civilization being practically unchangeable," says 
Benjamin Kidd, "or only changeable through influences operating 
slowly over long periods of time, the world can be changed in a 
brief space of time. Within the life of a single generation it can 
be made to undergo changes so profound, so revolutionary, so per- 
manent, that it would almost appear as if human nature itself 
had been completely altered in the interval. If but one-half the 
intelligence and effort which nations have hitherto directed towards 
the collective organization of society for war were directed towards 
the study and collective organization of society in the light of this 
knowledge, it would result in its becoming visible on all hands 
that civilization can be altered so radically and so quickly that 
the outlook of humanity on nearly every fundamental matter can 
be changed in a single generation."^ 

It is true, however, that the outstanding problems of the day 
require an educational basis for their solution. One of the great 
needs of the present moment is for a thorough application of the 
spirit of scientific analysis in all realms of modern industry, in 
the sphere of human relations as well as in mechanics. Intensive 
experimentation and the inductive method are sorely needed. We 
cannot hope to make a correct diagnosis of our economic ills on 
any other basis than that of freedom of thought and expression 
and an open-minded examination of the facts in the case and a 
fair consideration of proposed solutions. 

It is impossible for any one individual to discover the whole 
truth concerning any problem or solution. Especially is this true 
in an antagonistic society, where the individual is likely to be 
influenced by strong prejudices. It is also impossible for any 
class or belligerent group to make a correct appraisal of any 
situation. Passion and bitterness hide the truth. 

Therefore, one of the great needs of the present moment is 
fellowship — intimate acquaintance, a sharing of thought and ex- 
perience, mutual outpouring and ingathering, a common search for 
truth, a mutual desire to serve, and cooperation in the common 



Benjamin Kidd, "The Science of Power," pp. 112, 113. 

113 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

task of achieving a Christian economic order. Fellowship in 
industry can best be promoted by seeking to place industry on a 
basis of production for use and by intensive experiments with 
various types of cooperation in industry. 

This is a period of unsurpassed opportunity for Christian 
people. The whole world is in convulsion. Age-long institutions 
and practices are crumbling. "The old order changeth," says 
Woodrow Wilson, "changeth under our very eyes, not quietly and 
equably, but swiftly and with the noise and heat and tumult of 
reconstruction. We are in a temper to reconstruct economic 
society, as we were once in a temper to reconstruct political so- 
ciety, and political society may itself undergo a radical modifica- 
tion in the process." 

During the nineteenth century we achieved the physical basis 
of the good life for all the people, and it now seems possible to 
raise the general standard of living in the United States very con- 
siderably during the next few decades. Is it too much to believe 
that during the twentieth century we shall be able to establish a 
Christian economic order, in which abundant life will be within 
the reach of all, and every human being will have opportunity for 
complete self-development and self-expression? 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THOUGHT AND DISCUSSION 

[. Is A Christian Economic Order Practicable? 

1. Many persons say it is utterly impossible to conduct modern 
industry on the basis of the spirit of Jesus. What are the 
considerations for and against this position? 

2. Read the Social Statements of the Protestants, Catholics, 
and Jews. What do these indicate as to the belief of these 
bodies as to the possibilities of a Christian economic order? 
What are the common points of emphasis? What, if any, 
distinctive emphases do you find ? 

3. What other evidences of social conscience and aspiration 
among Christians? 

4. Do you consider such statements merely paper documents 
or real evidences of progress? Why? 

5. Upon the whole, does a Christian economic order seem to 
you practicable of attainment? 

114 



A CHRISTIAN ECONOMIC ORDER 

II. How Rapidly Can a Christian Economic Order Be 
Achieved? 

1. With which of the two following common attitudes do you 
find yourself in agreement? Why? 

a. The economic order must be revolutionized immediately. 

b. No considerable progress in the solution of economic 
problems can be made in a short time, and proposed quick 
solutions are likely to be "Utopian." 

2. W^hat is the evidence for and against speedy progress in the 
achievement of a Christian economic order? 

3. What are the things immediately practicable toward this 
end? 

4. How rapidly can a Christian economic order be achieved? 



115 



Index 

PAGE 

Accidents 57,92 

Amalgamated Clothing Workers 88 

American Federation of Labor 98 

Antagonism 4, 60 

Astor, J. J 30 

Autocracy 35 

Beecher, H. W .12 

British Coal Commission 97 

Carlyle 11 

Carnegie, A 31,34, 36 

Catholic, National War Council 106 

Central Conference of American Rabbis 107 

Child Labor 10 

Christian Economic Order 101 ff 

Churches 1, 5, 104 flf 

Church League for Individual Democracy Ill 

Class Codes 60 

Coal Mines 97 

Colorado Fuel & Iron Co 86 

Commercial Failures 70 

Commission on Industrial Relations 9, 14, 26, 59 

Commons, J. R 80 

Compensation Laws 92 

Competition 4, 60, 71 

Concentration 59 

Consumers 90 

Control 84 ff 

Cooperation 76 

Cooperative Movement 90 

Cost of Living 24,25,41 

Crime 11 

Decreasing Independence 58 

Democracy .35, 37, 81, 86, 87 

117 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

PAGE 

Dennison, H 78 

Dodge, W. E 57 

duPont Co 31 

Dutchess Bleachery 87 

Efficiency 35, 48, 76, 81 

Eliot, Ex-President 33 

Employes' Representation 86 

Evans, E. W 42 

Family 10, 62 

Fatigue 58 

Federated Council of Churches 104 

Fellowship for a Christian Social Order 110 

Fellowship of Reconciliation 108 

Filene, Wm. Co 86 

Friday, D 70, 74 

Gantt, H. L 67 

Gary, E. H 85 

George, Lloyd 1 

Great Fortunes 29 ff, 46 

Greece 49 

Greeley, H 11 

Hadley, Ex-President 45 

Harding, President 17 

Hart, Schaffner & Marx 88 

Health 57, 77, 92, 96 

Hoffman, F. L 57 

Hoover, H 78 

Hoover's Committee , 19, 67, 77 

Housing 63 

Human Costs 57 ff 

Hutton, John A 3 

Ignorance 10, 35, 66, 77, 102 

Incentives 61, 67, 68, 71, 75, 103 

Incomes 22, 31, 43, 46, 50 

Income Tax 98 

Inefficiency 11, 48, 67, 77 

Inheritance Tax 99 

118 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Insurance 80,96,97 

Interstate Commerce Committee 95 

Jesus 6, 8, 12, 33, 37, 50, 62, 101, 102 

Jewish Rabbis 107 

Kidd, Benjamin 2, 113 

Laissez faire 60, 94 

Labor-saving Devices 55 fif 

Lowell, J. R 112 

Luxuries 41 fif , 66 

Machinery 54 

Mack, W. J 79 

Minimum Wage 93 

Monotony 58 

Moral Losses 61 

Mothers 10 

National Building Guild 89 

National Catholic War Council 106 

National Income 22), 43, 65 

National Industrial Conference Board 24, 41 

Old Age 14 

Owners 85 

Paley 8 

Paternalism 2)6,Z7,2)% 

Plumb Plan 98 

Poverty 5, 7 £f, 17 fif, 26 

Production 54, 65," 74, 84 

Production for Use 71, 74, 76, 84 

Profit Motive 61, 67, 69 

Progress 103 

Public Ownership 95, 97 

Railroad Labor Board 95 

Railways 97 

Reed, T. T 56 

Regularization 78 

119 



CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

PAGE 

Research 76 

Rockefeller Foundation 34 

Rowntree, S 78, 97 

Sabotage 66 

Sankey, Justice 98 

Secretary of Treasury 47 

Security 13, 69 

Selley, E 89 

Sickness 9, 14 

Slaves 49 

Smithsonian Institute 56 

Social Ideals of the Churches 104 

Spiritual Losses 61 

Standard Oil Co 30 

State Control 91, 92 

Stockholders 85 

Taxation 98 

Transportation 56 

Unemployable 15 

Unemployment 19, 58, 69, 78 

Unemployment Insurance 80, 96 

United Mine Workers 98 

United States Steel Corporation 31, 86 

Wages 18 £f , 26 

War 61 

War-time Production 74 

Wealth 29,46 

Wells,. H. G 2,2 

Wilber force 8 

Wilson, W 37, 114 

Withers, H 45 

Women 21 

Workers' Control 87 



120 



